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Columbia  (Bnitetfftp 

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THE  LIBRARIES 

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GIVEN  BY 

Martin  Fenton 

3 


3C 


t  -   67 


LETTERS 

OF 

MRS.  JAMES  G.  BEAINE 

EDITED    BY 

HARRIET   S.  BLAINE   BEALE 

VOLUME     I 


NEW   YORK 
DUFFIELD    AND    COMPANY 

1908 


Copyright,  1908 
By  Duffield  and  Company 


j\j\.  %  7   W9 


THE    UNIVERSITY    PRESS,    CAMBRIDGE,    U.S.A. 


01 


PREFACE 

TV  /TY  first  thought  in  bringing  my  mother's  letters 
<*■"■*■  together  and  putting  them  into  readable  form  was 
to  give  to  her  grandchildren  some  clearer  understand- 
ing of  the  home  life  into  which  her  children  were  born 
and  to  which  they  look  back  with  such  tender  love  and 
appreciation  as  the  years  teach  them  its  value.  There 
was  no  thought  of  making  a  biography,  and  it  is  only 
as  one  letter  has  been  added  to  another,  and  year  after 
year  rescued  from  oblivion,  that  I  have  comprehended 
that  it  is  my  mother's  portrait  which  stands  revealed 
on  the  background  of  the  past.  With  gratitude  I 
realize  that  she,  who  never  gave  a  thought  to  herself, 
living  only  in  the  lives  of  others,  who  was  content  to 
be  used,  absorbed,  obliterated  if  need  be,  in  her  service 
of  love,  lives  once  more  in  these  rescued  leaves,  in  her 
forcefulness,  her  honesty,  her  humor,  and  her  splendid 
courage  that  was  so  cruelly  tried. 

A    brief   introduction    to    the    published    letters    is 

perhaps  needed. 

[  v] 


PREFACE 

Harriet  Bailey  Stanvvood  was  the  seventh  child  and 
fifth  daughter  of  Jacob  Stanvvood  and  his  second  wife, 
Sally  Caldwell.  She  was  born  at  Augusta,  Maine,  on 
October  12,  1828,  whither  her  parents  had  moved  from 
Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  in  1820,  when  Maine  was  made 
a  state,  and  where  her  father  carried  on  the  business 
of  a  woollen  merchant.  She  was  educated  first  at  the 
Cony  Academy  in  Augusta,  and  later  at  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Cowles'  School  for  Girls  in  Ipswich,  where  she  was 
studying  at  the  time  of  her  father's  death  in  1845. 
On  leaving  the  Cowles'  School  she  went  to  join  her 
older  sister,  Caroline,  as  a  teacher  at  Mrs.  Johnson's 
school  in  Millersburg,  Kentucky.  There  she  met 
James  Gillespie  Blaine,  who  at  that  time  was  also 
teaching,  at  the  Western  Military  Institute  at  George- 
town, Kentucky,  and  there  in  1850  they  were  married. 
From  Millersburg  they  went  to  Philadelphia,  where  he 
taught  in  the  Institute  for  the  Blind  and  where  their  first 
child,  Stan  wood,  was  born  in  1851.  At  the  age  of  three 
Stan  wood  died,  and  that  keen  sorrow,  followed  almost 
immediately  by  the  death  of  my  mother's  mother,  to 
whom  she  was  tenderly  attached,  brought  my  father 
and  mother  to  Augusta,  where  they  henceforth  made 
their  home,  living  for  the  first  years  in  the  old 
Stan  wood  house,  with  the  oldest  unmarried  sisters,  the 
"  Aunt  Susan  "  and  "  Aunt  Caddy  "  of  the  letters,  and 
moving  later  to  the  Rufus  Child  house  at  the  corner 

[  vi] 


PREFACE 

of  State  and  Capitol  Streets.      The   year  after  their 

return  to  Augusta,  in  1855,  a  son   was  born,  Robert 

Walker,  followed  in  1857   by    another    son,  Williams 

Emmons,  by  a  daughter,  Alice  Stanwood,  in  1860,  and 

by  the  three  younger  children  who  alone  survive  their 

parents.      In  1863  my  father  was  sent  to  the  National 

Congress,  and  in   1869  he  was  made  Speaker  of  the 

House.      From  that  time  they  spent  their  winters  in 

Washington,   and   from    the    year    1871    my    mother's 

letters    explain    her   life    so    fully    that    little    further 

commenting  is  needed. 

H.  S.  B.  B. 

Washington,  D.  C. ,  October  26,  1908. 


[vii] 


1869 


From  1862  to  1866  Mr.  Blaine  represented  the  third  Maine  district, 
the  so-called  Kennebec  district,  in  the  lower  house  of  Congress.  From 
the  period  when  these  Letters  begin,  1869,  to  1876,  he  was  Speaker 
of  the  House,  and  the  family  residence  alternated  between  Washing- 
ton and  Augusta. 

Mr.  Blaine  was  born  at  West  Brownsville,  Pennsylvania,  Janu- 
ary 31,  1830.  His  active  political  experience  began  in  1854  when  he 
became  the  part  owner  and  editor  of  the  Kennebec  Journal,  pub- 
lished at  Augusta,  Maine,  then  the  official  organ  of  the  Whig  party, 
holding  the  same  relation  to  the  Republican  party  when  two  years 
later  that  party  came  into  being.  He  reported  the  legislative  debates 
for  his  paper,  and  it  is  remembered  that  he  never  made  written  notes 
of  the  votes  on  the  calls  for  yeas  and  nays,  but  depended  on  his 
memory  alone,  which  was  so  accurate  that  the  record  was  never  in 
error.  An  interesting  fact  is  that  the  legislative  reporter  for  the 
Democratic  paper  at  that  time  was  Melville  W.  Fuller,  later  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Blaine's  political  experience  was  first  developed  by  his  edi- 
torial work,  and  then  more  directly  by  active  participation  in  the 
campaign  of  1856  in  the  interest  of  the  newly  organized  Republican 
party.  He  had  previously  been  a  delegate  to  the  First  Republican 
Convention  which  had  nominated  John  C.  Fremont  for  the  Presi- 
dency. In  1858  he  edited  the  Portland  Advertiser,  but  gave  up  active 
newspaper  work  thereafter,  except  that  he  edited  the  Kennebec 
Journal  in  the  autumn  of  1860  during  the  campaign  which  resulted 
in  the  first  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  President  of  the  United 
States. 

In  1858  he  was  elected  to  the  Maine  Legislature  and  re-elected  in 
1859-60  and  1861,  serving  the  last  two  years  as  Speaker  of  that 
body.  In  1862  he  succeeded  Anson  Morrill  (brother  of  Lot  M. 
Morrill)  in  the  lower  house  of  the  National  Congress  as  Repre- 
sentative from  the  third  Maine  district,  the  so-called  Kennebec 
district,  which  he  continued  to  represent  until  the  summer  of  1876, 
when  Lot  M.  Morrill  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  by 
President  Grant,  and  Mr.  Blaine  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  of 
Maine  to  serve  out  Mr.  Morrill's  unexpired  term  in  the  United  States 
Senate.    In  the  following  winter  he  was  elected  for  the  full  term. 


LETTERS    OF 

Mrs.  JAMES  G.  BLAINE 


To  Walker,  at  Phillips  Academy, 

Andoyer 

Augusta,  Friday  evening  (1869) 
My  dear  Walker,  —  I  am  sorry  not  to  be  able 
to  write  you  a  long  letter  to-night,  but  as  it  is  already 
past  ten,  and  Jamie  is  liable  to  wake  up  every  moment, 
I  know  I  shall  not  be  able  to.  Your  three  letters  came 
tonight,  and  I  cannot  tell  you  how  delighted  we  all 
were  to  hear  from  you.  By  we  all,  I  mean  Emmons 
and  moi-meme.  I  had  been  down  town  all  the  after- 
noon, and  my  first  question  when  we  got  in  was  as  to 
the  whereabouts  of  my  letters.  I  did  you  the  honor 
of  keeping  Father's  letters  waiting  while  I  read  all 
of  yours.  No  further  proof  could  I  give  of  my 
desire  to  hear  from  you,  as  I  often  think  my  letters 
from  Father  are  my  daily  bread.  Now,  one  word, 
or  rather  several,  about  the  boarding  house  and  the 
homesickness,  and  the  last  first.  I  hoped  you  might 
be  spared  this  most  trying  ordeal,  but  I  did  not 

[3] 


LETTERS    OF 

expect  it.  Does  it  not  come  to  every  one?  Never 
shall  I  forget  going  to  Ipswich  when  I  was  nine  years 
old.  The  first  evening  after  my  arrival  the  fit  came 
on  me  in  full  severity.  I  fled  out  of  the  house  and 
crouched  down  behind  a  hogshead.  In  the  pre-cistern 
days,  a  hogshead  for  rain-water  graced  every  back 
door  in  New  England.  There  was  I  found,  but  when 
questioned,  I  remember  that  I  prevaricated.  Some- 
thing disgraceful  associated  itself  in  my  mind  with 
homesickness,  so  I  said  that  I  was  crying  for  my 
wormwood  and  molasses,  a  spoonful  of  which  de- 
lightful compound  I  was  accustomed  to  take  for  some 
humour  I  had.  I  was  at  once  accommodated  with  the 
dram,  and  so  got  well  paid  for  my  deception. 

But  to  revert  to  yourself.  Time  will  cure  this. 
If  you  can  only  hold  out  a  few  days  it  will  disappear 
like  the  early  mist  before  the  sun.  And  this  ghost 
once  laid  rises  again  never. 

And  now  if  I  could  only  look  in  on  your  quarters, 
I  would  unerringly  advise  you,  but  since  I  cannot 
I  must  go  by  the  data  I  have;  and  first  I  send  you 
Mr.  Smyth's  letter  which  Father  sent  me  to-night, 
and  which  you  will  find  in  the  box.  You  will  agree 
with  me  that  it  is  better  almost  to  suffer  three  months' 
discomfort  than  to  make  of  no  avail  so  kind  an  effort 
on  the  part  of  Mr.  S.  If  the  other  room  you  speak 
of  is  airier,  better  furnished,  more  cheerful  than  the 

[4  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

one  you  now  have  I  would  take  it.  You  must  not  con- 
sider the  difference  in  the  expense.  But  I  do  not 
believe  your  Father  would  want  you  to  have  a  room 
mate.  I  hope  that  you  will  stay  at  Mrs.  Mathers 
and  justify  the  high  opinion  Mr.  Smyth  seems  to 
have  of  you.  He  can  not  think  more  highly  of  you 
than  you  deserve  in  my  eyes,  but  then,  I  am  your 
mother,  and  have  borne  you  these  many  years  in  my 
prayers  and  my  hopes.  You  would  nowhere  get  much 
of  a  table.  You  can  buy  yourself  a  good  wholesome 
lunch  now  and  then  when  the  inner  man  feels  that  it 
must  be  renewed.  At  any  rate,  all  you  have  to  do 
is  to  keep  up  good  courage  and  God  will  give  you  the 
reward  of  well  doing. 

You  ought  to  see  Emmons's  sympathy  in  your 
trials.  "  If  he  was  Jack  he  would  hump  it  to  the  first 
train."  "  It  pulls  a  fellow  down  terribly,  I  tell  you, 
mother,  not  to  have  what  they  like  to  eat,"  and  so 
he  goes  on.  Alice  is  not  very  well.  She  has  not 
eaten  anything  to-day.  I  have  been  over  to  St  Cath- 
erine's this  afternoon  to  make  the  arrangements  for 
her  starting  there  Monday.  Aunt  Caddy  has  been 
here  all  the  evening.  She  thinks  your  case  not  to  be 
compared  to  Herbert's.  Gen.  Hodsdon  and  Capt. 
Boutelle  *  have  been  here  all  the  evening.  Johnny  was 
in  last  evening  to  play  some  of  the  airs  in  La  Grande 

1  Charles  A.  Boutelle,  editor  Bangor  Whig  and  Courier;  later 
Member  of  Congress.  ["5   1 


LETTERS    OF 

Duchesse  to  Emmons.  You  should  have  seen  the 
latter  in  his  stocking  feet  dancing  and  singing  to 
the  accompaniment.  But  I  have  written  Jamie 
awake,  and  must  say  good  night.  Keep  me  well 
posted  in  all  your  affairs,  and  if  Mrs.  Mathers  re- 
mains uncongenial  to  you,  I  will  arrange  to  have 
you  change,  but  I  shall  be  pleased  if  you  can  stay 
and  be  happy.  The  next  time  you  write  send  a  mes- 
sage particularly  to  Alice. 

From  your  loving, 

Mother. 

Augusta,  Sunday  afternoon. 
My  dear  Walker,  —  I  feel  very  sorry  about  your 
lamp,  especially  as  on  looking  into  my  pocket-book 
I  find  I  have  not  enough  to  send  you  the  German 
Students'.  I  can  hardly  believe  myself  that  my  funds 
are  so  low,  with  Father  still  to  be  away  two  days 
longer,  but  I  had  to  pay  the  workmen  last  night,  a 
disbursement  I  did  not  anticipate.  Your  Father  is 
in  Boston  to-day  and  I  think  very  likely  you  may 
have  heard  from  him,  so  I  will  not  take  up  my  time 
describing  his  movements.  Emmons,  Alice,  M  and 
myself  went  to  church  this  morning.  Heard  Mr. 
Bingham,  who  was  fighting  a  windmill,  it  seemed  to 
me,  all  morning.  No  one  has  been  in  this  afternoon, 
and  I  feel  almost  too  lonesome  to  write  letters.    When 

[6] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

you  are  lonely  writing  does  not  relieve  the  sense  of 
isolation  as  much  as  reading. 

Have  I  written  you  that  we  are  painting  the  house, 
building  a  portico  on  the  south  doors,  lowering  the 
chimneys,  and  resodding  the  north  bank?  Well,  we 
are,  and  Emmons  has  a  great  deal  of  enjoyment  in 
Sam  Brick's  society.  He  helped  him  yesterday  paint 
the  blinds.  We  shall  be  well  through  by  the  time  you 
get  home,  if  all  goes  well;  how  soon  that  will  be! 
Each  and  all  send  love  to  brother  Walker.  Jamie  is 
a  lovely  baby  —  M.  very  funny  and  entertaining. 

As  it  is  possible  that  you  may  have  some  money  by 
you,  enough  to  make  out  for  the  lamp,  I  send  you 
five  dollars.     Do  not  be  extravagant. 

From  your  attached  mother,  who  would  write  you 
a  longer  letter  if  her  paper  were  smoother. 

The  Newton  boys  got  home  Saturday.  Emmons 
says  Ben  Deering  is  to  be  a  minister.  The  weather 
is  lovely,  the  grass  turning  green,  streets  in  some 
places  dusty,  and  the  Bingham  boys  and  Fred  Cony 
just  going  up  back  of  the  State  House  for  a  walk. 

Good-by  my  dear  boy,  and  the  best  of  Heaven's 
blessings,  a  pure  heart  and  good  conscience,  be  yours. 

From, 

Mother. 


[7] 


LETTERS    OF 

Augusta,  Tuesday  morning,  April  27,  1869 
My  dear  Walkee,  —  I  am  ashamed  when  I  re- 
member how  long  it  is  since  your  loving  mother  wrote 
you  a  letter,  but  I  must  say  just  one  word  in  her 
extenuation.  And  to  resume  the  ego  in  toto,  I  have 
so  many  things  to  occupy  my  head,  my  heart  and  my 
purse,  that  the  amazing  wonder  of  it  all  is  that  I 
remember  to  do  anything,  or  anything  well.  To  all 
this  large  household  I  am  obliged  to  be  father,  mother, 
aunt  and  referee  on  every  subject,  spiritual  and 
secular.  From  John,  with  his  poor,  neglected,  dirty 
horse,  to  Jamie,  there  is  no  authority  but  myself, 
and  when  to  crown  and  commence  the  day  Ada  gives 
me  a  poor  breakfast,  as  she  very  often  does,  I  feel 
that  I  bring  not  the  strength  of  a  humming  bird  to 
meet  these  many  demands. 

Yesterday  Emmons  commenced  his  school  again, 
likewise  M  the  magnificent,  hers.  Mons  came  home 
at  noon  perfectly  disgusted  with  his  arrangements. 
He  had  been  put  into  Caesar,  although  he  is  perfectly 
unposted  as  to  rules ;  into  geometry  though  he  has 
never  been  in  algebra,  and  in  arithmetic  only  to  square 
root.  His  other  study  —  natural  history  —  he  made 
no  objection  to.  Then  he  has  that  bete  noir  —  decla- 
mation —  threatening  him.  Altogether,  I  think 
were  it  not  for  the  fear  of  boarding-school  hanging 
over  him,  he  would  sit  down  in  the  ashes  and  wait  for 

[8] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

his  fairy  godmother  rather  than  try  to  help  himself. 
But  with  this  dread  harrowing  his  soul,  he  knows 
that  he  must  do  or  die,  so  last  night  he  shut  himself 
in  the  parlor  till  he  had  mastered  his  geometry,  and 
this  morning  at  breakfast  while  I  cut  steak  and  poured 
coffee,  he  ate  and  read  out  his  "  Gallia  est  omnis 
divisa  in  partes  tres,"  and  I  will  say  for  him  that  he 
translated  his  nine  lines  very  deftly  and  neatly.  All 
your  old  books  come  in  play  so  well  that  he  has  not 
had  to  buy  a  new  one.  As  soon  as  breakfast  is  over, 
he  harnesses,  then  I  put  on  my  pretty  hat,  take  in 
the  little  Blaine  girls  and  the  one  big  brother,  and, 
leaving  J'aime  in  his  red  night  gown  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  his  little  nurse,  forth  we  drive. 

First  we  drop  M  at  Winthrop  street;  she  goes 
off  bowing  her  head  and  saying  — "  Now,  Alice 
Blaine."  Then  Emmons  throws  out  the  reins  and 
gives  a  spring  as  we  come  in  sight  of  that  dirty 
hubbubbly  high  school,  and  lastly  I  drive  over  the  old 
bridge  and  deposit  my  saintly  Alice  among  the  saints. 
She  likes  them  much,  and  this  is  now  the  fourth  week, 
so  I  feel  some  confidence  in  the  permanency  of  her 
regard.  When  I  come  home  there  is  Jamie  to  bathe 
and  dress,  and  Father's  letter  to  write.  This  letter 
to  Father  has  become  such  a  choice  affair  that  I  have 
no  doubt  I  shall  go  on  jotting  down  my  poor  little 
trifles  even  when  we  are  under  the  same  roof.    Father 

[9] 


LETTERS    OF 

meets  me  with  the  salutation  — "  Well,  old  lady, 
the  separation  is  over.  We  have  nothing  to  do  now 
but  enjoy  each  other."  This  on  Friday,  but  on 
Wednesday  I  find  myself  at  the  door,  that  familiar 
old  bag  in  my  hand  which  I  could  pack  asleep,  saying 
good-by  with  the  best  grace  I  may.  I  give  him  now 
till  Saturday  to  get  home  in.  If  he  comes  not  then 
I  have  a  fit  of  the  blues  all  ready  to  put  on. 

I  was  perfectly  delighted  to  hear  from  him  so  satis- 
factory an  account  of  you.  That  your  tongue  ran, 
that  you  ate  the  oranges,  that  the  homesickness  had 
disappeared,  that  you  addressed  Aunt  Caddy  as  Sir; 
each  and  every  item  gave  satisfaction. 


Augusta,  Thursday  a.  m.  May  27,  1869. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  You  will  hardly  believe  that 
you  directed  your  last  letter  to  Washington,  and  that 
to  that  great  and  wicked  and  corrupt  and  corruptible 
city  it  went  before  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  it, 
yet  such  is  the  truth;  and  if  I  had  not  fortunately 
been  seized  with  a  fit  of  curiosity  respecting  your 
dear  daddy's  correspondence,  it  would  have  gone  on 
to  New  York,  another  city  of  notorious  depravity,  the 
fame  of  which  may  have  reached  even  your  humble 
ears,  before  it  would  have  gladdened  my  waiting  eyes. 
I  say  my  waiting  eyes,  because  I  had  begun  to  think 

[10] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

it  high  and  higher  time  that  I  should  hear  from  you, 
and  now,  as  my  time  before  the  mail  takes  up  is  some- 
what of  the  shortest, — to  plunge  in  medias  res.  This 
is  Latin,  and  Latin  proper,  my  dear  son,  and  not  to 
be  confounded  with  Greek.  Your  Father  left  yester- 
day for  New  York.  He  was  at  home  just  as  long  as 
it  took  the  Creator  to  make  the  world,  only  your 
D.D.  (short  for  Dear  Daddy)  rested  his  six  days, 
and  on  the  seventh  commenced  his  labor  anew.  F  S 
came  home  with  him  Wednesday,  and  left  the  next 
Tuesday.  His  visit  gave  us  great  pleasure,  to  none 
more  than  to  Emmons ;  and  by  the  way,  that  dear 
brother  of  thine  is  to  come  back  to  Andover  with 
thee;  and  I  trust  him  to  you,  Walker,  in  the  confi- 
dence that  in  all  that  makes  for  brotherly  love  and 
perfect  harmony  you  will  never  fail  me.  You  are 
the  elder,  and  doubtless  you  will  often  have  to  yield 
more  than  you  will  think  the  elder  brother  should, 
but  whenever  you  are  tempted  to  overbear,  remember 
the  teaching  and  the  example  of  the  Elder  Brother  of 
us  all,  and  you  will  know  just  how  to  do. 

Mothee. 

Augusta,  Thursday  evening 
My  dear  Son,  —  How  long  is  it  since  I  have  writ- 
ten you?     Every  morning  I  think  I  shall  certainly 
find  time  for  a  good  long  letter  to  Andover  to-day, 

[in 


LETTERS    OF 

and  night  lets  down  her  curtain  upon  me  and  the 
thing  I  would  do  I  have  not  done.  The  truth  is,  I 
have  no  nurse  for  Jamie,  and  the  principal  care  of 
him  comes  upon  me,  and  this  perpetual  occupation 
underlying  all  my  other  cares,  robs  my  days  and 
evenings  of  all  leisure.  Ada,  too,  has  been  sick  this 
week,  so  that  there  has  been  an  added  demand  upon 
me  for  a  few  days.  I  often  think  that  since  in  this 
world  some  things  must  be  crowded  out  (this  good 
idea  is  not  mine  but  Mrs.  Craddock's,1  in  that  serial  in 
the  "  Young  Folks  "  —  I  have  forgotten  its  name) 
I  will  elect  that  tucks  and  embroideries  shall  be  from 
my  life  and  my  little  girls',  and  perhaps  I  shall  then 
find  that  I  have  like  other  people,  twenty-four  hours 
to  my  day.  Can  you  make  out  my  writing  easily 
enough  to  readily  take  in  my  ideas? 

I  have  been  over  to-night  to  see  John  Bruce ;  found 
him  bolstered  up  in  his  chair,  very  feeble,  apparently 
only  a  few  days  to  live.  I  hope  he  will  last  a  few 
days  longer  so  that  I  may  have  the  comfort  of  show- 
ing him  a  few  little  kindnesses.  Father  goes  to  Bos- 
ton to-morrow.  Am  sorry  to  lose  him  even  for  a  few 
days,  but  his  errand  is  an  important  one  and  he  must 
go.     He  will  visit  you  at  Andover  before  he  returns. 

1  The  Hon.  Harriet  Lister  Craddoek,  Maid  of  Honor  to  the  Queen 
in  the  early  40's  and  author  of  "The  Calendar  of  Nature,  or  the 
Seasons  of  England,"  edited  by  Lord  John  Russell,  and  of  "John 
Smith,"  "Rose,"  and  other  novels. 

[12] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

I  would  send  you  a  basket  of  goodies  but  he  takes  the 
eastern  road.  How  did  you  like  the  buttons  I  sent 
you  for  your  birthday?  We  are  having  the  house 
painted.  Quite  an  improvement  it  will  be  too.  I  only 
wish  we  were  building  a  new  large  room  for  my  dear 
boy  at  Andover,  but  I  intend  to  select  a  large  and 
handsome  one  for  him  at  Washington.  Emmons  still 
insists  that  he  will  not  go  back  with  you  next  term, 
although  his  Father  is  very  anxious  that  he  should. 
He  likes  Mr.  Lambert  very  much  indeed,  but  is  un- 
fortunately situated  as  to  his  studies,  having  been 
obliged  to  abandon  his  Latin.  Monday  the  Blaines 
had  a  grand  hair-cutting.  The  barber  shop  did 
not  come  until  nine,  and  then  there  were  the  pater, 
Alice,  Emmons  and  M  to  be  operated  on.  All 
went  merry  as  a  marriage  bell  till  it  came  to  the 
last,  then  trouble  began.  Such  a  time  as  we  had. 
Father  stormed,  threatened  and  coaxed,  all  to  no 
purpose.  Then  he  resorted  to  strength,  muscle, 
Emmons  would  call  it.  But  even  here  he  was  hardly 
a  match  for  her.  She  never  gave  in,  no,  not  for  a 
second,  and  parted  with  her  hair  only  as  the  dextrous 
scissors  took  it  from  her.  Every  inch  of  the  way  she 
fought.  Great  streams  of  perspiration  flowed  down 
the  artist's  face;  but  little  by  little  the  work  went 
on,  M  all  the  time  crying  out  amid  her  sobs  — 
"  I  shall  look  horrid,  I  know  I  shall ;  I  shall  look  like 

[13] 


LETTERS    OF 

a  bride,  I  know  I  shall."  She  is  not  a  bit  reconciled 
to  her  loss  yet. 

Mrs.  Child,  who  boards  in  Andover,  wants  you  to 
come  and  see  her.  She  is  grandmother  to  Robert 
Wainwright  who  is  at  your  school. 

Good-night,  my  dear,  and  excuse  this  short  and 

abrupt  letter  from, 

Mother. 

Friday  evening. 
Dear  Walker,  —  I  have  just  received  your  letter 
of  Sunday.  Emmons  also  has  his.  Both  we  have 
enjoyed  very  much  indeed.  Write  early  and  often. 
Emmons  is  at  this  moment  on  his  knees  helping  Mr. 
Sherman,1  Father's  clerk,  empty  about  twenty  bags 
of  their  contents.  The  library  and  the  vestibule 
are  "  all  running  out  at  the  mouth  "  with  humbugs 
for  the  constituents.  Father  left  this  morning  for 
Boston.  He  expects  to  visit  Andover  before  his  re- 
turn, but  this  I  have  already  written  you.  About 
your  rooms,  I  think  I  may  venture  to  let  you  take 
a  room  at  Mrs.  Torry's.  I  have  such  confidence  in 
your  good  behavior  that  I  believe  you  will  prove  no 
exception  to  the  gentlemanly  rule,  which,  according 
to  your  account,  seems  to  obtain  in  her  family.    Have 

1  Thomas  H.  Sherman,  Mr.  Blaine's  private  secretary  for  more 
than  twenty  years,  and  later  U.  S.  consul  at  Liverpool. 

[14] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

I  written  you  how  much  M  enjoyed  her  dollar? 
She  bought  a  lead  pencil,  Faber  2,  with  it,  and  a  five 
cent  paper  doll.  The  remaining  85  cents  found  its 
way  into  mother's  purse. 

Good-night,  I  would  write  more,  but  must  get  this 
note  mailed  to-night.     Each  and  all  send  love. 

Mother. 


[15] 


1871 


To  Walker,  in  England 

Augusta,  Monday  evening,  August  21st,  1871 
My  dear  Boy,  —  The  great  event  since  I  wrote 
you  a  week  ago  is  your  Father's  Saratoga  serenade 
speech,1  which  he  made  last  Wednesday  evening,  and 
which  he  considers,  though  this  of  course  is  in  con- 
fidence, a  great  strike.  An  immense  crowd  assembled 
to  hear  him,  and  he  has  been  overwhelmed  with  con- 
gratulations. I  think  myself  he  was  most  happy,  and 
perhaps  I  should  be  more  difficult  than  almost  any- 
one else  to  please.  All  the  papers  have  said  their  say 
about  it  pro  and  con  according  to  the  tone  of  the 
journal.  .  .  .  No  tongue  can  adequately  portray 
my  loneliness  since  I  came  from  Boston  the  day 
after  you  sailed.  I  seem  to  myself  to  lead  two 
lives  entirely  distinct  from  each  other  —  the  one 
when  I  am  with  your  Father,  all  variety,  wide- 
awake, gay ;  the  other  all  Aunt  Susan,  sewing 
machine,  «hildren.  Another  telegram  we  have  also 
had  this  afternoon  from  Mr.  Alexander  telling  of  the 
arrival  of  the  Tripoli  at  Queenstown  only  last  night. 

1  Political  speech  made  by  Mr.  Blaine  at  Saratoga  Springs 
August  16,  1871,  in  which  he  contrasted  the  economies  of  the  Re- 
publican Administration  at  Washington  with  the  reckless  expendi- 
ture and  shameless  corruption  of  the  government  of  New  York  City 
under  Tammany.  William  M.  Tweed  was  arrested  for  the  first  time 
October  28th  of  this  year. 

[19] 


LETTERS    OF 

Was  it  not  a  long  passage,  and  how  did  you  stand  it? 
I  long  to  hear,  not  only  this,  but  that  you  are  well  and 
happy,  and  sure  of  enjoying  all  that  the  liberality  of 
your  Father  had  planned  for  you. 


Augusta,  August  29th,  '71 
Tuesday  evening 

My  dear  Walker,  —  I  was  obliged  to  cut  my 
letter  short  so  unexpectedly  last  night  and  so  un- 
satisfactorily that  I  then  determined  to  daily  or 
rather,  nightly,  chronicle  hereafter  my  small  beer,  so 
that  you  might  in  the  future  have  a  more  faithful  if 
not  a  better  record  of  all  our  petty  family  doings. 
Your  Father  is  better.  He  stays  in  the  open  air  all 
he  can,  so  every  morning  after  his  letters  are  written, 
we  drive.  Went  yesterday  twice,  and  once  to-day. 
To-day  we  drove  out  over  Western  Avenue  and  round 
by  Coombs'  mills,  Daddy  walking  two  miles  of  the 
distance  and  horse  of  course  ditto.  We  still  keep, 
and  probably  shall  for  some  time  to  come,  the  Rock- 
land horse.  Mr.  Sherman,  as  I  wrote  you,  is  here, 
and  trying  to  get  the  papers,  documents  and  letters 
together  in  order  for  the  winter.  Thirty  boxes  and 
bags  I  think  have  been  brought  from  the  postoffice 
this  afternoon.  At  4:30  your  Father  left  for  Lewis- 
ton,  has  to  meet  the  State  Committee  this  evening. 

[20] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Will  look  out  for  the  election  1  rather  more  closely 
because  of  the  rumors  of  danger  to  the  party.  To- 
morrow he  goes  to  Boston,  and  is  the  next  day  to 
come  home.  Will  not  see  Emmons,  though  I  begged 
him  to  stay  over  one  extra  day  rather  than  not  do 
it,  but  he  thinks  hardening  good  for  boys. 

This  morning  I  had  a  long  letter  from  Cousin 
Abby.2  She  is  very  busy  getting  her  book  ready. 
Wrote  for  me  to  come  up  next  week  and  bring  Que 
J'aime. 

Thursday  evening. 

I  am  going  to  send  my  letter  off  to-night  and  have 
but  a  few  minutes  left  for  final  words. 

Dear  little  M  fell  yesterday  and  broke  her  left 
arm,  broke  it  just  above  the  elbow,  quite  badly.  She 
suffers  dreadfully  with  it,  and  is  very  nervous,  so 
much  so  that  I  find  it  difficult  to  leave  her.  She  was 
playing  at  Mr.  Swan's  at  the  time  and  fell  from  an 
apple  tree.  She  took  ether  while  her  arm  was  set, 
but  suffered  a  great  deal.  By  a  most  fortunate 
change  in  his  plans  your  Father  had  come  home  in- 

1  The  Maine  elections  were  then,  as  they  are  to  a  somewhat  less 
extent  now,  considered  as  a  "barometer"  indicating  the  prospects  of 
the  political  parties  in  the  general  Presidential  election  to  follow. 

2  Miss  Mary  Abby  Dodge,  Mrs.  Blaine's  cousin,  who  wrote  under 
the  nom-de-plume  of  Gail  Hamilton.  She  spent  many  winters  with 
Mrs.  Blaine  in  Washington  and  is  referred  to  in  the  "letters"  as 
"Cousin  Abby,"  "C.  A.,"  "Miss  Dodge,"  "  Gail  Hamilton,"  "G.H.," 
or  "The  Dodger." 

[21] 


LETTERS    OF 

stead  of  going  to  Boston  as  he  intended,  and  this 
happened  just  after  he  arrived.  Dear  little  thing,  she 
said  Emmons  minded  his  so  little  in  Washington, 
she  thought  it  would  be  good  fun  to  break  an  arm ; 
but  it  is  a  very  different  thing  when  you  come  to 
try  it. 

We  have  heard  from  Emmons,  who  likes  his  school 
a  great  deal  better.  Your  Father  will  send  you  his 
letter  by  the  despatch  bag,  so  you  will  soon  have  it. 
It  is  the  greatest  possible  comfort  to  me  to  find  that 
he  is  going  to  do  well.  The  Standard  has  been  abus- 
ing your  Father  in  its  last  two  issues,  the  main  cry 
his  great  wealth.  To-day  it  has  three  columns  cit- 
ing his  princely  style  of  living,  his  retinue  of  servants, 
and  the  expensive  education  he  is  giving  his  children 
—  one  son  now  traveling  in  Europe.  Gen.  Chamber- 
lain 1  has  accepted  the  presidency  of  Bowdoin  College. 
Toby  Candor  sits  here  waiting  to  see  your  Father ; 
also  the  parlor  full.  Aunt  Caddy  and  Emily  have 
just  come  in,  and  send  love. 

Good-by, 

Your  devoted, 

Mother. 

1  Joshua  Lawrence  Chamberlain,  who  left  the  professorship  of 
rhetoric  in  Bowdoin  College  to  enlist  with  the  20th  Maine  Volunteers 
in  the  Civil  War,  breveted  Major-General  in  18G6,  and  elected  three 
times  governor  of  Maine,  from  I860  to  1871. 

[   22   ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Evening. 

My  dear  Boy,  —  I  have  just  had  a  call  from  Mr. 
Goodenow *  and  his  sister,  a  most  elegant  looking 
girl.  They  are  on  their  way  to  Bangor,  but  stayed 
over  until  to-morrow  morning  to  see  me.  I  was  sick, 
and  could  do  nothing  beyond  receiving  the  visit. 
M  is  so  very  far  from  well  that  she  requires  and 
has  almost  all  my  time.  "  Uncle  John  "  hopes  to  get 
his  leave  of  absence  prolonged,  and  in  that  case  I  shall 
be  able  to  show  him  some  attention  in  Washington. 
This  afternoon  we  received  your  letter  of  August  31st. 
Very  nice  and  interesting  letters,  too.  I  have  read 
them  twice  and  have  just  enveloped  them  to  Father, 
who  will  get  them  to-morrow  morning  at  the  Parker 
House.  M.  cannot  quite  decide  on  her  doll's  hair. 
Alice  Farwell  had  one  that  she  could  brush  the  hair 
on,  but  Alice  Wood's  stayed  on  better.  She  will  decide 
before  the  next  letter.  It  was  Queen  Eleanor,  wife  of 
Edward  I.  to  whom  the  memorial  crosses  were  erected. 
There  were  fifteen  of  them,  and  they  commemorate 
her  resting  places  from  Grantham  to  Westminster. 

The  little  magnifier  came  all  safe.  I  must  close  my 
letter.  You  are  a  dear  good  boy,  and  your  letters 
give  us  unbounded  satisfaction. 

Good-night,  and  God  bless  you. 

Mothee. 
1  John  Goodenow,  U.  S.  Minister  to  Turkey. 

[23] 


LETTERS    OF 

Augusta,  Sunday  evening, 
September  2nd,  1871. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  My  time  has  been  mostly 
spent  since  I  last  wrote,  as  you  may  suppose,  in 
taking  care  of  M.  For  two  days  she  suffered 
very  much,  had  two  very  bad  nights,  probably  the 
bandages  were  unnecessarily  tight.  Dr.  Brickett 
loosened  them,  and  she  has  been  steadily  gaining  since 
Friday  morning.  To-day  she  has  been  out  driving 
twice,  and  though  very  weak,  does  not  complain  of 
much  pain.  To-morrow  her  arm  is  to  be  examined, 
and  if  all  is  well  with  it,  I  shall  feel  quite  light  hearted. 
Dr.  Barbour  has  preached  for  us  to-day ;  have  been 
out  only  once,  but  Aunt  Susan  has  made  amends  for 
all  my  deficiencies.  Your  Father  has  gone  also 
to-night. 

The  Standard  is  all  taken  up  with  his  affairs.  I 
dislike  it  extremely,  but  suppose  it  will  not  do  to  let 
all  the  charges  and  statements  go  unanswered.  We 
had  a  nice  letter  from  Emmons  this  morning;  will 
send  it  to  you  by  despatch  bag,  as  it  tells  all  about 
his  studies.  I  have  no  doubt  the  school  is  far  better 
than  it  has  been  since  Dr.  Taylor's  death.  Your 
Father  also  had  a  very  friendly  and  most  excellent 
letter  from  the  President.1      I  had  no  idea  that  he 

1  General  Ulysses  Simpson  Grant,  eighteenth  President  of  the 
United  States. 

[24] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

would  write  so  good  a  letter.  He  wanted  to  be  re- 
membered to  you  children.  We  are  all  longing  to 
hear  from  you,  but  do  not  expect  our  heart's  desire 
for  a  day  or  two  yet.  You  seem  to  have  gone  down 
into  the  very  caverns  of  silence.  M's  great  solace 
during  her  illness  is  her  kittens  —  Tiger  and  Snow- 
drop. J'aime  loves  them,  but  his  tender  mercies  are 
cruel.  To-day  Tiger  took  refuge  from  him  in  the 
warm  ashes  of  my  fire.  He  did  not  dare  go  there, 
so  the  poor  thing  had  an  hour  of  quiet.  Uncle 
William,1  Aunt  Abby,  Ida  and  Lucy  Cony  expect  to 
start  to-morrow  week  for  Saratoga.  They  like  to 
fly  high  when  they  do  take  the  wing.  Aunt  Emily's  2 
family  are  all  well;  Aunt  Caddy  exceedingly  tried 
with  the  dog  —  a  Scotch  terrier,  ugly  enough  to 
be  a  pure  breed.  George  represents  it  is  worth  a 
hundred  dollars.  Jim  and  Wal  take  care  of  it,  and 
seem  to  enjoy  it  much  as  the  Pickwick  Club  did  their 
tall  horse  when  they  were  going  to  Mr.  Wardle's. 

Monday  evening. 

"  Out  of  the  depths  have  I  called  unto  thee  "  — 

this  is  all  I  can  think  of.     Your  Father  came  home 

from  town  this  afternoon,  having  intercepted  the  mail 

with  your  welcome  letter  and  diary,  so  you  must  have 

1  William  Caldwell,  Mrs.  Blaine's  cousin. 
*  Mrs.  Stinson,  Mrs.  Blaine's  younger  sister. 

[25] 


\ 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

got  in  Saturday  instead  of  Sunday  as  the  Cunard 
gentleman  telegraphed  your  Father.  I  read  the  letter 
aloud,  Dada  the  Journal ;  both  most  satisfactory,  but 
be  sure  to  write  on  better  paper.  That  you  use  is 
odious.  You  can  give  up  Geneva,  of  course.  I  be- 
lieve your  Father  has  written  you  to  this  effect.  Mrs. 
Stillman  —  I  wrote  you,  did  I  not?  —  is  the  original 
of  Euphrosyne  in  Lothair.  How  good  it  seems  to 
be  once  more  in  communication  with  you. 

M  has  had  a  very  suffering  day  —  not  so  much 
with  pain  in  her  arm  as  pain  all  over  and  general 
nervousness.  Certainly  I  put  stockings  in  your  bag. 
Have  just  had  time  to  write  these  few  lines. 

Love  from  us  all;   oceans  from 

Mother. 

Augusta,  September  8th,  1871 
Friday  evening. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  M's  broken  arm  seems   to 

have  worked   sad   woe   to   my  journalizing,   as   well 

as  some  other  things.     I  got  your  Father  to  write  a 

few  lines  last  night,  but  I  am  afraid  he  is  not  a  very 

good  detailer  of  home  affairs,  and  so,  although  my 

day  has  been  unmarked  by  events,  I  will  not  wait  for 

anything  more  uncommon,  but  will  at  once  begin  a 

new  letter  by  telling  you  that  Aunt  Caddy  has  just 

gone  home  after  spending  the  evening  with  us.     She 

[  26] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

is  knitting  a  stocking  of  huge  dimensions,  had  eaten 
a  very  hearty  supper,  and  as  the  sitting  room  under 
the  combined  effect  of  gaslight  and  wood  fire  was  very 
warm,  I  was  not  surprised  to  see  her  eagerly  count- 
ing the  strokes  of  the  clock  as  it  sounded  out  nine, 
and  no  less  eagerly  rolling  up  her  work ;  after  which 
with  a  prolonged  and  final  yawn  she  departed.  She 
did  not  sleep  well  at  all  last  night,  and  all  her  waking 
dreams  were  of  you,  stimulated  of  course,  by  your 
letter,  which  your  Father  read  to  her  at  the  supper 
table.  He  and  I  had  the  first  reading  of  it  in  the  car- 
riage over  on  Malta  Hill.  How  delighted  we  were  to 
hear  from  you  I  cannot  express.  Your  Father  is  well 
pleased  with  you,  thinks  you  outdo  him  as  a  traveler. 
He  was  saying  at  the  supper  table  that  next  summer, 
if  Emmons  wanted  to  go  over  to  meet  you,  he  should 
make  no  objection,  whereupon  Alice  insists  that  he 
told  you  over  and  over  again  to  keep  away  from 
Americans.     Surely  Emmons  is  an  American. 

Tom  Sherman  left  us  this  afternoon.  Your  Father 
expects  Tuesday  to  leave  for  Pennsylvania.  The 
local  politics  are  becoming  very  interesting.  A  par- 
tisan warfare  is  waged  between  the  Journal  and  the 
Standard,  and  of  course  your  Father  is  a  mark  for 
most  of  the  shafts  and  honors.  Warren  Johnson, 
it  is  reported,  has  gone  over  to  the  Democrats. 
Undoubtedly    he    thinks    Kimball    is    to    be    elected. 

[27] 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

Heaven  send  that  he  may  be  well  punished  for  his 
lack  of  faith.  To-night  your  "  Dada  "  takes  tea, 
or  as  I  should  say,  sups,  at  Sylvanus's.1  We  were 
both  invited,  but  I  was  too  tired  and  lifeless  to  go. 
M  thinks  no  one  so  good  and  handsome  as  her  dear 
and  pretty  Mum,  and  when  my  caresses  and  services 
for  the  day  are  through,  little  is  left  me  but  a  recol- 
lection of  past  fatigues.  J'aime  I  have  hardly  seen 
for  the  day.  Mary  Nolan,  the  new  nurse,  proves  very 
efficient,  and  does  not  permit  the  earnest  little  soul 
to  come  about  me  half  as  much  as  I  really  want  him 
to.  He  is  a  great  toast  on  the  street,  and  his  pet 
accomplishment  is  to  tell  where  you  have  gone. 
"  Walker  Blaine  has  gone  to  Obrope,  I  tell  you." 
This  you  can  hear  any  hour  during  the  day.  Alice 
and  he  went  out  into  the  country  for  cream  this  after- 
noon, and  returned  bringing  with  them  a  full  grown 
cat.  "  Tiger  "  had  been  missing  for  a  number  of 
days,  but  yesterday  his  select  and  cold  remains  were 
discovered  in  a  shoe  box,  J'aime  having  shut  him  in 
and  forgotten  him.  There  was  great  grief,  as  you 
may  suppose,  but  it  has  been  a  great  comfort  to 
change  his  name  to  Ginevra. 

1  Sylvanus  Caldwell,  Mayor  of  Augusta,  and  cousin  of  Mrs.  Blaine. 
Mrs.  Sylvanus  Caldwell  is  the  "Aunt  Hannah"  of  the  Letters. 

[28] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Saturday  evening. 
Your  Father  and  I  have  been  this  afternoon  to  see 
Mrs.  Lambard.  She  got  home  a  week  ago ;  would 
have  liked  to  see  you  very  much.  She  showed  me  a 
good  many  things  she  had  brought  home,  mostly 
Dresden  china.  You  cannot  think  how  high  the  par- 
tisan spirit  seems  to  run  this  election.  Your  Father 
has  just  had  sent  him  from  down  town  a  Democratic 
sheet  which  that  party  in  lack  of  a  daily  paper  have 
just  issued.  Two  thirds  of  it  certainly  is  devoted  to 
him.  Judge  Rice  *  and  Mr.  Vickery  are  their  candi- 
dates for  the  Legislature.  How  glad  I  shall  be  when 
the  City  and  State  are  well  carried  Monday  evening. 
We  had  a  letter  from  Emmons  this  morning,  very 
brief;  he  says  he  is  too  busy  to  write,  really  seems 
to  be  studying  hard.  It  is  occasion  for  unbounded 
happiness  on  my  part  that  he  is  happy  and  doing  well 
at  Andover. 

Sunday  evening. 

A  very  quiet  day.     Out  this  morning  to  hear  Dr. 

Caruthers,  Father  with  me,  to  church.     Returning, 

he  walked  with  Mr.  Farwell  and  Aunt  Cad  rode  with 

me.     Aunt  C  has  forgotten  "  Pie,"  and  the  dog  is  as 

1  Richard  Drury  Rice,  of  Augusta,  appointed  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Maine  in  1852.  He  resigned  the  office  in  1863  to  accept  the 
presidency  of  the  Portland  and  Kennebec,  now  the  Maine  Central 
R.  R.  He  was  also  one  of  the  builders  and  a  vice-president  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad. 

[29] 


LETTERS    OF 

a  shadow  which  flitteth  away,  so  overwhelming  is  her 
interest  in  the  election  to-morrow.  It  seems  to  be  of 
vital  consequence  to  her,  but  in  reality  it  would  make 
no  difference  in  her  basket  or  her  store  whether 
Perham  1  or  Kimball  governed  the  State.  But  I  am 
immensely  interested,  for  I  feel  there  has  been  a 
deliberate  effort  made  to  break  down  your  Father. 
Nothing  at  the  bottom  of  it,  I  presume,  but  envy. 

Monday  evening. 
Well,  Walker,  the  election  is  over,  and  well  over. 
Every  ward  in  this  city  is  carried  by  Republicans,  — 
a  thing  which  I  think  has  hardly  ever  been  before. 
This  city  is  carried  by  237  ;  other  towns  have  thrown 
very  large  votes.  Gramp 2  voted  among  the  first, 
fearing  that  he  might  die  during  the  day  if  he  put 
it  off.  Poor  old  Prince  has  been  out  all  day,  and 
still  is  going  his  weary  rounds.  Father  is  at  the 
Journal  office  awaiting  the  returns.  He  expects  to 
be  out  very  late.  By  good  rights  this  letter  ought 
to  have  gone  on  the  10  o'clock  train  to-night,  but 
Joe  3  and  Sue  3  have  been  in,  and  I  could  not  bear  to 
send  it  without  a  closing  word. 

1  Sidney  Perham,  Governor  of  Maine,  and  later  member  of 
Congress. 

2  Mr.  Sewall,  Mr.  Manley's  grandfather. 

8  Joseph  Homan  Mauley,  of  Augusta,  and  Mrs.  Manley.  Mr. 
Manley  was  chairman  of  the  Republican  State  Committee  and  later 
member  of  the  National  Committee  for  Maine. 

[30] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Everyone  congratulated  your  Father  on  the  elec- 
tion in  this  city  as  a  personal  compliment.  How  he 
would  feel  to  have  it  telegraphed  all  over  the  country, 
as  it  was  to  be,  that  Augusta,  the  home  of  Morrill 1 
and  Blaine,  had  gone  Democratic.  But  I  must  close, 
for  I  mean  after  all  to  get  this  letter  off. 

Good-by  my  dearest  boy.  Everybody  sends  love  to 
you.     I  cannot  particularize. 

Most  devotedly, 

Mother. 

Home,  September  12th,  1871. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  We  have  had  a  great  treat 

this  afternoon,  namely,  your  first  and  second  batch 

of  London  letters,  the  last  date  of  which  was  August 

30th.     Father  expected  to  go  to  Boston  to-day,  but 

as  his  stay  is  to  be  quite  a  serious  one  —  two  weeks 

at  least  in  Pennsylvania  —  and  as  there  were  a  great 

many  telegrams  concerning  election  to  receive  and  be 

sent  away,  he  concluded  to  defer  his  departure  until 

to-morrow,  so  he  was  here  to  read  out  your  letters. 

First  they  were  read  in  the  spare  chamber,  Susan, 

M  and  I  the  audience.     When  they  were  about  half 

through  Alice  and  Que  J'aime  added  themselves  to 

the  circle  —  the  former  very  indignant  that  we  had 

1  Senator  Lot  M.  Morrill,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under  President 
Grant,  became  a  resident  of  Augusta  in  1811,  forming  a  law  partner- 
ship with  Senator  James  W.  Bradbury  and  Judge  Rice. 

[31  ] 


; 


LETTERS    OF 

not  sent  for  her  to  hear  the  beginning  of  the  narra- 
tion —  then  George  was  told  to  put  old  Prince  into 
harness  and  go  for  Aunt  Caddy.  Of  course  she  was 
more  than  ready,  so  at  supper  we  had  reading  No.  2, 
and  Aunt  Hannah  coming  in  during  the  evening,  there 
was  a  third  reading,  your  Father  officiating  every 
time.  We  all  think  you  are  doing  splendidly ;  seeing 
a  great  deal,  and  describing  all  to  us  with  great 
accuracy  and  freshness.  But  do  not  write  any  more 
on  both  sides  of  that  paper.  Your  Father  says,  use 
it,  if  you  wish,  but  write  only  on  one  side.  You  have 
no  idea  how  impatiently  we  want  to  read  and  how 
slowly  we  have  to  feel  our  way.  I  have  been  up  to 
the  dam  with  your  Father  to-day  and  also  drove 
around  town  a  little.  The  election,  as  you  will  see 
by  the  papers  your  Father  has  sent  you  this  evening, 
has  turned  out  splendidly  —  a  grand  vindication  of 
your  dearest  dad,  that  of  this  town  is.  All  the  capi- 
tal of  the  Democratic  party  seemed  to  be  centered  in 
him. 

Thursday  morning. 
Dear  Walker,  —  I  have  just  settled  with  Mary 
White,  who  goes  home  on  a  two  weeks'  visit,  and  find 
that  I  owe  her  so  much  that  I  have  just  $1.85  left  in 
my  purse.  Hope  you  feel  richer  than  I  do  this  morn- 
ing, with  all  Europe  on  your  shoulders.    Your  Father 

[32] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

got  off  yesterday  noon ;  started  in  his  usual  hurry. 
At  the  last  moment  there  was  the  key  of  his  strong 
box  missing;  was  fortunate  enough  to  find  it  care- 
lessly left  on  the  clock.  Think  of  that!  At  the 
Journal  office  there  was  proof  to  correct,  cars  mean- 
time in.  Then  there  was  the  bank,  and  at  every 
corner  some  one  running  to  stop  him.  However,  he 
got  off  cheerful  and  bright,  for  he  feels  that  he  has 
conquered  gloriously  in  this  town,  and  I  have  already 
had  two  notes  from  him,  one  sent  from  Brunswick 
and  the  other  from  Portland.  Be  sure  your  journal 
will  be  faithfully  preserved. 

Augusta,  September  17th,  1871 
in  the  afternoon. 

My  deab  Walker,  —  If  I  could  get  a  few  minutes' 

relief    from    attendance    upon    M    I    should    be    too 

happy.     All  day  we  have  been  inseparable.     I  have 

read  to  her,  have  conversed  with  her,  and  lastly  have 

written  you  a  letter  for  her   since   six  o'clock  this 

morning.     We  have  got  Aunt  Fortune  married  to 

Mr.  Brunt,1  and  Ellen  knows  that  Alice  is  going  to 

die,  and  now  at  last  Aunt  Susan  has  been  knocked  up 

from  her  bed  and  has  taken  up  the  tale.     After  one 

chapter   particularly   devoted   to   John   Humphreys, 

M.  said  to  me,  "  I  suppose  Mr.  John  is  about  such 

1  A  character  in  "The  Wide  Wide  World." 
vol.  i—3  [  33  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

a  looking  young  man  as  Walker."  "  Whether  he  was 
or  was  not,"  said  I,  "  I  have  no  doubt  he  was  very 
interesting  looking."  "  Well,"  said  she,  "  I  do  not 
think  he  could  be  any  pleasanter  than  our  Walker." 

Home  looks  very  pleasant  this  afternoon,  though 
it  sadly  misses  the  three  Blaine  men.  To  think  of 
J'aime  being  the  only  son  with  whom  I  can  take  sweet 
counsel !  Your  Father  is,  I  suppose,  to-day  either  in 
Elizabeth  or  Pittsburg,  as  I  had  a  telegram  from 

him  yesterday  at  P .     He  has  pushed  on  so  he 

may  get  home  sooner.  At  Boston  he  saw  Mr.  Fisher 
and  Mr.  Caldwell;  had  long  interviews  with  both 
gentlemen ;  everything  exceedingly  vague  and  un- 
satisfactory ;  still  I  have  great,  the  greatest,  con- 
fidence in  your  father  surmounting  all  the  discour- 
agements of  the  situation. 


Augusta,  September  19. 
Tuesday  evening. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  When  I  went   out   to   the 

doorstep  this  afternoon  to  pick  up  the  mail  which 

Lebbins  had  carelessly  flung  into  the  yard,  I  was 

delighted  to  see  the  end  of  a  bluish  foreign  envelope 

sticking  out  —  a  sure  sign  of  a  letter  from  you.    And 

by  the  way,  one  of  the  things  about  your  letters  which 

pleases  your  Father  especially  is  the  address.    I  often 

see  him  showing  it  and  challenging  admiration  for 

it.     Just  as  I  have  got  seated  at  the  front  parlor 

[34] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

window  prepared  to  work  my  slow  and  laborious  way 
through  the  first  sheet  —  which  you  will  remember 
was  written  all  over  on  both  sides  —  Aunt  Cad  comes 
in,  congratulating  herself  upon  her  great  good  luck 
in  always  coming  in  upon  your  letters,  whereas  Aunt 
Emily  says  she  might  come  down  every  day  in  the 
week  and  she  should  never  be  here  to  hear  one  read- 
ing. Interruption  number  1  was  put  up  with,  but 
when  number  2,  arriving  in  the  shape  of  Lizzie  Thorns, 
was  seen,  patience  failed,  and  I  beat  a  retreat  to  the 
sitting  room.  Here,  after  I  had,  I  am  ashamed  to 
say,  snubbed  Aunt  Susan  for  coming  in,  with  some 
irrelevant  question,  I  was  permitted  to  go  with  you 
on  the  two  or  three  days'  travel  you  had  sent  us.  All 
the  places  associated  with  Mary  and  her  brother 
Murray  seem  full  of  significance  to  me,  because  I  have 
within  a  few  years  read  Froude,  who  bestows,  of 
course,  great  care  and  research  on  the  Stuart  part 
of  the  history.  I  greatly  miss  the  enjoyment  of 
reading  your  letters  with  your  Father.  We  have,  since 
they  began  to  come,  read  them  together,  and  gener- 
ally alone,  and  sympathizing  with  you  and  with  each 
other  to  the  fullest,  we  have  felt  united  over  you  to 
a  wonderful  degree.  Always  may  you  give  as  much 
joy  and  satisfaction  to  our  hearts  as  you  have  in  the 
way  you  have  improved  the  first  two  weeks  of  your 
stay  in  Europe.     But  to  go  on  with  my  narrative, 

[35] 


\ 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

when  I  had  got  through,  Aunt  Cad  took  them  up, 
reading  and  rereading  every  word,  for  she  pays  her- 
self the  compliment  of  thinking  that  she  has  a  great 
deal  to  do  with  your  first  start  in  life,  and  that  you 
are,  in  some  sort,  her  own  product. 

Thursday  evening. 

I  am  really  almost  mortified  when  I  think  what 
commonplace  family  affairs  I  write  about,  and  here 
begins  another  page  of  what  old  Mr.  Mulliken  would 
call  "  the  same  old  cat  with  a  different  tail,"  though 
I  perceive  my  figure  does  not  in  the  least  hold 
together. 

The  afternoon  mail  brought  a  letter  from  Gen. 
Schenck  !  full  of  regret  that  he  was  not  in  England 
to  meet  you ;  saying  that  he  remembered  you  per- 
fectly, and  that  he  expects  to  leave  the  Continent  to- 
day, and  that  if  anywhere  within  his  jurisdiction  after 
this  time,  you  must  not  fail  to  report  yourself  to  him. 
Uncle  Sylvanus  has  been  in,  with  Charlie's  picture, 
just  sent.  Again,  good-night, — I  hope  I  shall  not  do 
as  I  did  last  night,  wake  up  after  one  sound  nap, 
think  about  you,  whom  I  fancied  from  your  letter, 
lonely  and  homesick;  deluge  my  poor  pillow  with  a 
perfect  flood  of  tears,  and  thoroughly  waked  thereby 
have  finally  to  get  up,  light  the  gas,  and  pursue  sleep, 

1  Gen.  Robert  C.  Schenck,  for  some  time  member  of  Congress 
and  later  U.  S.  Minister  to  England,  1870-1876. 

[30] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

the  rude  sailor  boy's  blessing,  through  the  pages  of 
a  dull  story. 

The  mail  also  brought  me  a  letter  from  your 
Father,  written  Sunday  afternoon,  at  Elizabeth, 
where  he  was  wandering  over  coal  fields  and  thinking 
sadly  of  his  mother.1 

Augusta,  September  28,  1871. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  Tuesday  evening,  just  be- 
fore eight,  I  got  a  telegram  from  your  Father  saying 
that  he  was  on  the  train  due  at  that  hour,  and  would 
expect  to  find  George  at  the  depot.  .  .  .  The  night 
was  stormy,  and  George  had  been  dismissed  till  the 
next  day.  Of  course  there  was  not  a  bit  of  meat  in 
the  house.  However,  it  was  everything  to  have  him 
coming  home.  Mary  flew  down  the  lane,  and  George's 
father  came  to  the  rescue  and  harnessed.  A  good 
supper  was  knocked  up  with  the  help  of  Mons,  and 
at  fifteen  minutes  past  eight  your  dear  dad  was 
comfortably  housed,  sitting  before  a  blazing  fire  in 
the  back  parlor.  He  had  spent  Monday  night  at 
Hamilton  in  company  with  the  Stowes,  having,  of 
course,  a  most  brilliant  time,  Harriet  Beecher  being 
in  one  of  her  most  communicative,  social  moods. 
Emmons  went  back  to  Andover  Monday  morning 
early,  looking,  your  father  says,  as  well  as  he  ever 
saw  him  in  his  life,  and  appearing  like  a  good  boy 
and  a  faithful  scholar.     He  thinks  he  shall  lay  up 

1  Mr.  Blaine's  mother  died  the  previous  spring  at  Brownsville,  Pa. 

[37] 


LETTERS    OF 

on  his  allowance !  One  hundred  dollars  is  due  him 
already,  though,  of  course,  he  has  not  paid  his 
board. 

Augusta,  Thursday  afternoon, 
October  5th 

My  dear  Walker,  —  It  is  a  very  close  sultry 
afternoon,  and  although  there  is  not  a  particle  of 
fire  in  the  furnace,  I  find  myself  very  uncomfortable 
sitting  at  my  sewing  in  my  room,  so  I  have  come 
down  into  the  back  parlor  for  the  sake  of  the  fresher 
air.  In  the  library  Mr.  Sherman  is  diligently  at 
work  making  an  accurate  list  of  committees,  together 
with  the  resignations  of  new  Members  and  the 
*'  outs  "  —  a  very  nice  j  ob  indeed.  And  I  heard  him 
tell  your  Father  yesterday  he  thought  he  had  gone 
over  the  names  in  his  anxiety  some  thirty  times.  In 
the  kitchen  Mary  and  Maggie  sit  at  their  sewing, 
and  in  the  nursery  Bedlam  under  the  generalship  of 
Alice,  has  evidently  broken  loose.  There  are  gathered 
Que  J'aime  and  M  and  Alice  and  Eliza,  and  as  their 
leader  stands  in  awe  of  no  one,  the  liberty  I  permit 
soon  becomes  license.  Susan  has  gone  over  to  Nancy's 
to  call  on  Mrs.  Pike.  Out  in  the  yard  George  plods 
away  raking  the  leaves  —  a  perfectly  foolish  business, 
as  they  come  from  the  trees  faster  than  he  can  pos- 
sibly clear  them  from  the  walks.  Your  dear  Father, 
I  am  happy  to  say,  has  been  out  for  a  walk,  and  as  he 

[38] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

turned  his  face  down  townward,  I  am  in  hopes  his 
admiring  constituency  will  have  the  pleasure  of  see- 
ing him.  I  think  perhaps  he  never  stood  so  high  with 
them  before,  certainly  he  never  stood  higher.  This 
morning  I  drove  down  town  with  Que  J'aime  to  get 
the  darling  some  boots,  also  to  canvass  the  field  a  little 
before  making  the  change  in  his  clothes ;  called  at 
Aunt  Emily's  and  took  her  down  with  us.  At  half 
past  12,  just  as  we  were  turning  our  faces  homeward, 
your  Father  hailed  us  from  Mr.  Hendee's  to  come  over 
and  have  J'aime' s  picture  taken.  His  dress  was  torn 
and  his  boots  shabby,  but  I  hope  we  got  something 
that  will  at  least  remind  you  of  the  little  brother. 
Your  Father  also  sat,  and  Alice,  who  came  in  on  her 
way  from  school,  wanted  to,  but  it  was  too  late. 

This  morning  we  had  a  letter  from  Uncle  Jacob  1 
saying  that  he  had  sent  the  girl  with  the  broken  arm 
fifty  pounds  of  Delaware  grapes  which  she  was  to 
share  with  Alice  and  J'aime.  She  is  getting  along 
finely,  does  not  even  wear  a  sling.  Since  I  wrote  you, 
your  Father  has  returned  from  Boston.  He  was  there 
only  one  day,  but  in  that  time  bought  me  blankets, 
two  fenders,  got  my  mended  jewelry  from  Shreve 
&  Stanwood  where  it  has  been  ever  since  you  sailed, 
and  to  my  great  surprise  he  got  home  on  the  4  o'clock 
train    yesterday    afternoon,    his    beloved    Kinglake 

1  Jacob  Stanwood,  Mrs.  Blaine's  older  brother. 

[39] 


LETTERS    OF 

(Crimea)  still  accompanying  him.  You  see,  Walker, 
I  write  you  the  most  trivial  details  of  our  life.  I  go 
out  but  little,  and  even  if  I  went  more,  my  narra- 
tives would  still  run  on  the  same  lay.  I  wrote  just 
such  letters  to  your  Father  when  he  was  away  as  you 
are,  and  he  said  the  very  sight  of  the  home  names  was 
a  refreshment  to  him.  Your  Father  thinks  it  not 
advisable  at  all  for  you  to  go  to  Germany  with  the 
Washburn  boys.  As  soon  as  we  hear  from  you  in 
Paris  he  will  write  to  the  Minister  1  about  you. 

Augusta,  October  8th, 
Sunday  evening. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  I  have  just  written  a  note 
to  Mr.  Hale,2  giving  him  Cousin  Abby's  address. 
He  wishes  to   send  her   cards   for  his   approaching 

1  Elihu  B.  Washburne  of  Illinois.  Mr.  Washburne  was  one  of  the 
few  foreign  ministers  who  stayed  in  Paris  during  the  Commune.  The 
late  Hon.  R.  R.  Hitt  of  Illinois,  chairman  of  the  Foreign  Affairs 
Committee,  said  of  him  in  the  House,  April  17,  1894:  "All  the  other 
diplomats,  every  one  of  the  lords,  and  counts  and  marquises  hurried 
away ;  Washburne  stayed  —  stayed  through  it  all.  The  stars  and 
garters  all  disappeared,  but  the  stars  and  stripes  stood  fast.  His  house 
was  pierced  with  shot.  The  bombshells  fell  all  about  the  Legation, 
but  he  never  failed  one  day  nor  one  hour  from  his  post.  He  had  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  both  the  French  and  German  governments 
when  they  trusted  no  one  else.  For  weeks  he  was  the  only  means  of 
communication  between  the  contending  forces,  a  pure  politician 
turned  diplomat,  a  dignified,  courageous,  discreet  American  minister." 

2  Hon.  Eugene  Hale,  at  that  time  representing  the  Fourth  Maine 
District  in  the  National  Congress,  later  U.  S.  Senator,  married  the 
daughter  of  Senator  Zachariah  Chandler  of  Michigan. 

[40] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

wedding,  which  comes  off  on  December  31st.  I  heard 
from  him  yesterday  —  the  first  time  for  a  long  while. 
He  says  he  is  very  much  in  love,  and  I  suppose  that 
must  excuse  him.  Also,  I  have  written  to  Cousin 
Abby,  from  whom  I  had  a  bright  and  racy  letter  this 
morning. 

Monday  evening,  before  tea. 

Another  day  has  come  and  gone,  dear  Walker, 
since  I  made  the  above  miserable  attempt  at  writing 
you  a  home  letter,  and  yet  no  line  from  you.  A  week 
yesterday  morning  since  we  heard  from  you.  Your 
Father  sits  in  the  parlor  toasting  his  feet  over  the 
fire,  a  suspicious  dampness  having  settled  upon  them 
in  the  garden,  where  he  and  Tom  Sherman  have  been 
exercising  or  exorcising,  which  you  will.  I  have  just 
been  saying  to  him  —  "Am  I  not  better  to  thee  than 
ten  sons?  "  "  Yes,"  said  he,  "  and  if  you  are  better 
than  twenty,  I  still  want  the  sons."  I  thought  he 
was  uneasy  about  you,  but  he  says  he  is  not ;  still, 
my  dear  boy,  be  particular  to  send  off  a  letter  if  of 
ever  so  few  lines,  by  frequent  mails. 

Your  Father  and  Mr.  Sherman  are  desperately 
busy  over  the  committees.  It  is  the  secret  of  the 
power  of  the  Speaker,  and  like  everything  else  worth 
anything,  is  a  rock  of  offense  and  a  block  of  stum- 
bling to  many,  though  to  others  the  chief  corner 
stone. 

[41] 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

Friday  your  Father  expects  to  go  to  Boston  to 
participate  in  the  honors  to  be  paid  the  President, 
all  of  which  he  will  see  and  a  part  of  which  be,  as 
he  is  himself  the  city's  guest.  Tuesday  he  expects 
simply  to  come  through  town  with  the  President  on 
his  way  to  Bangor.  The  President  stops,  I  believe, 
about  twenty  minutes  only.  He,  your  Father,  hates 
it,  but  I  suppose  it  would  not  do  for  the  President 
to  come  into  Maine  and  the  Speaker  not  be  here  to 
see  him.  Mr.  Morrill  gets  rid  of  the  whole  thing 
by  starting  to  Kansas  to  see  M .  .  .  But  I  sup- 
pose this  information  will  be  more  interesting  to 
Mons  than  to  you.  I  have  had  a  short  letter  from 
that  youth  —  as  Mrs.  Prescott  called  him  —  Friday 
afternoon.  The  weather  had  been  warmer,  so  they 
had  had  a  very  good  chance  at  baseball.  This  was 
really  the  gist  of  the  letter.  I  sent  him,  or  rather, 
Mr.  Sherman  did,  at  my  request,  on  Saturday  the 
Anabasis  and  Virgil. 

Do  you  get  the  Kennebec  Journal?  Your  Dada 
says  he  sends  it  to  you  every  week.  I  try  to  keep 
you  posted  about  everything,  but  happily  little  in  the 
shape  of  news  occurs ;  no  news  is  good  news,  you 
know.  We  want  to  hear  from  you  very  much  at 
Paris.  Do  not  fail  to  chronicle  every  little  thing 
about  yourself  as  well  as  the  larger  things.  It  in- 
terests me  to  hear  of  your  cravats.     I  think  of  you 

[42] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

constantly ;  never  wake  in  the  night  that  my  first 
impression  is  not  of  you. 

Be  a  good  boy.     Good-night, 

Most  devotedly, 

Mothee. 

Augusta,  October  14,  1871. 
Saturday  morning,  just  after  breakfast. 

My  deae  Walkee,  —  I  got  as  far  as  the  date  of 
a  letter  to  you  last  Thursday  afternoon,  but  just 
as  I  got  so  far,  Aunt  Emily  came  in,  which  of  course 
delayed  me  for  the  time,  and  everything  here  being 
very  cheerful,  she  concluded  to  stay  to  supper,  and 
when  that  ceremony  was  over,  I  found  that  no  trains 
were  to  leave  for  no  one  knew  how  long,  all  culverts 
being  washed  away  by  the  vast  quantities  of  rain, 
more  having  fallen  in  a  given  time  at  the  hospital 
than  there  has  been  any  record  of  for  the  last  twenty 
years.  So,  though  it  hurt  my  feelings  terribly,  I 
was  compelled  to  let  the  mail  start  for  Europe  with- 
out any  missive  good  or  bad,  for  my  dear  boy.  The 
heavy  storm  broke  up  all  the  water  works  of  Mr. 
Johnson  back  of  the  State  House,  falling  down  in 
floods ;  the  water  bringing  with  it  any  quantity  of 
earth,  has  thoroughly  altered  the  topography  of  the 
country  about  Canada  Brook,  filling  the  hollow  and 
making  of  it  a  large  flat.     There,  —  I  'm  glad  to  be 

[ « ]  i 


LETTERS    OF 

through  with  that  sentence,  having  been  interrupted 
during  its  laborious  construction  more  times  than  I 
have  fingers. 

Your  Father  goes  to  Boston  to-day  at  12  to  meet 
the  President.  He  stops  at  the  St.  James,  and  has 
written  Emmons  to  meet  him  there  this  evening.  I 
have  had  a  letter  from  him  this  morning  full  of  the 
Chicago  calamity. 

M  and  J'aime  are  playing  on  the  sofa.  The 
latter  has  been  trying  all  the  morning  for  a  cat.  I 
heard  him  before  breakfast  on  the  porch  calling  for 
George  to  go  out  and  find  him  a  cat.  There  are  so 
many  on  the  premises  that  they  go  out  very  much 
as  one  would  hunt  an  elephant  in  Africa.  Sure 
enough,  he  came  in  a  few  minutes  ago  hugging  up 
a  very  fair  specimen  of  the  feline  race.  This  is  a 
specimen  of  M's  manoeuvring  to  get  the  kitten :  — 
"  O  J'aime,  you  be  the  mother  and  play  that  you  are 
out  shopping  and  buy  something  for  the  baby's  birth- 
day, a  little  gold  chain  or  something.  I  '11  be  the 
nurse  and  stay  at  home  and  take  care  of  the  baby. 
Here,  darling,  come  to  nursey."  And  J'aime,  over- 
powered by  the  argument,  surrenders,  and  M  sits 
on  the  sofa  fondling  and  enjoying  to  her  heart's 
content. 

I  don't  know  how  much  you  may  have  heard  of  the 
Chicago  fire.     From  the   prominent  newspaper   ac- 

[  44  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

counts,  alas,  there  never  was,  and  God  grant  there 
never  may  be  anything  like  it. 

Sunday  afternoon,  October  15. 

All  the  family,  Eliza  and  J'aime  excepted,  went 
out  to  church  to-day.  Heard  Professor  Barbour  * 
preach  on  the  Chicago  fire,  after  which  a  contribu- 
tion was  taken  up.  Your  Father  has  already  sub- 
scribed and  paid  $250.,  and  to-day  Alice  had  $5.  and 
I  put  in  $20  more,  and  again  I  shall  give  when  they 
take  up  collections  for  old  residents  of  Augusta.  Un- 
expectedly a  double  dividend  or  something  of  that 
kind  came  in  yesterday  morning  from  the  Eastern 
Express,  and  I  think  it  a  direct  intimation  of  provi- 
dence that  we  should  give  it  to  Chicago ;  anyhow,  it 
is  going  that  way.  Then  we  shall  send  off  large  boxes 
of  clothing,  new  and  half  worn.  Think  of  the  winter 
which  is  before  those  crowds  of  people,  —  any  quan- 
tity of  work  but  no  shelter.  In  five  years  —  your 
Father  thinks  less  —  Chicago  will  be  rebuilt. 

I  drove  your  Father  to  the  station  yesterday  at  the 
usual  hour ;  whipped  up  to  Harrington's  and  bought 
him  some  black  gloves,  as  I  did  not  think  a  hat  in 
mourning  and  colored  gloves  looked  well  together. 
Came  back  to  the  depot  and  found  that  the  cars  were 
thirty  minutes  late  at  least,  so  Dada  and  I  whipped  up 
the  old  nag  and  came  back  for  a  lunch.  I  flew 
1  The  Rev.  W.  M.  Barbour,  D.D.,  of  Yale  College. 

[45] 


LETTERS    OF 

around  and  got  up  a  cup  of  tea,  cold  meat  and  toast, 
a  delicious  pie.  M  and  J'aime  crowded  in  to  the 
feast.  I  ate  and  waited  on  the  others,  and  when  in 
twenty  minutes  we  started  again  for  the  train  the 
whole  family  agreed  that  they  had  dined.  This  time 
we  and  the  train  —  a  very  heavy  one  —  reached  the 
starting  point  together,  and  your  Father  on  enter- 
ing the  Pullman  had  the  pleasure  of  being  greeted 

by  Mrs.  F ,  never  a  favorite  of  his,  who,  sick 

and  alone,  had  left  Belfast  in  the  morning  starting 
for  Washington.  I  was  sorry  for  him,  not  for  her 
mind  you,  but  could  afford  no  help.  So  I  took  in 
Mr.  Bradbury  1  and  started  for  home ;  occupied  my- 
self in  coming  up  the  hill,  while  Mr.  Bradbury  dis- 
coursed, in  trying  to  decide  which  was  the  slowest, 
he,  I,  or  old  Prince.  As  I  had  only  a  lonesome  after- 
noon before  me,  decided  to  stop  and  call  at  Aunt 
Emily's.  Found  them  just  sitting  down  to  dinner, 
a  very  nice  dinner,  roast  chicken,  etc.,  but  did  not 
join,  though  pressed  to  do  so.  I  suppose  Mons  and 
your  Father  are  to-day  at  the  St.  James.  Tuesday 
the  President  goes  to  Bangor,  stops  here  about  20 
minutes.  I  shall  go  to  the  depot  and  get  a  passing 
word  with  your  dear  Dada,  who  is  to  keep  with  the 
President  till  Friday. 

1  Hon.  James  W.  Bradbury,  Senator  from  Maine,  1847-1853. 

[46] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Monday  evening,  8  o'clock. 

I  have  heard  from  your  Father  this  afternoon.  He 
reached  Boston  at  8-%  Saturday  evening.  Found 
Emmons  and  an  alderman  waiting  for  him.  Saw  the 
President,  the  P.  M.,  Mrs.  Grant  and  Nellie  and  the 
boy.  Breakfasted  with  them,  then  went  to  Dr.  Put- 
nam's church,  Roxbury.  Emmons  and  the  Grant 
boy  went  with  Collector  Russell  to  attend  service  on 
the  School  Ship.  I  believe  I  never  was  in  Boston  on 
Sunday  that  Mr.  Russell  did  not  appear  to  invite  us 
to  that  School  Ship.  At  six  they  were  to  dine  at 
Mr.  Hooper's. 

Que  J'aime  fell  Saturday  morning  and  nearly  broke 
his  precious  nose,  catching  his  feet  in  one  of  the 
thousand  holes  in  the  old  nursery  carpet,  so  I  have 
had  it  pulled  up  in  a  hurry. 

We  took  in  $250  in  our  church  yesterday,  the 
Episcopal  $700,  the  Universalists  $350 ;  but  many 
of  our  society  subscribed  on  the  papers,  as  your 
Father,  Mr.  Johnson  and  the  Potters.  O  the  suffer- 
ing, the  appalling  suffering  of  the  Chicago  panic ! 

Most  devotedly, 

Mother. 

Augusta,  Thursday  evening, 
October  19.     Before    tea. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  The  evening  for  sending  off 

a  letter  to  }rou  has  again  come  round,  and  not  one 

[47] 


LETTERS    OF 

word  have  I  written.  But  a  few  lines  chronicling  the 
uneventful  days  since  Monday  I  will  at  least  write. 
As  usual,  when  I  begin  a  letter  to  you,  Emily  has 
just  come  in,  but  as  she  has  turned  aside  into  the 
parlor,  I  will  leave  Aunt  Susan  to  entertain  her  while 
I  sit  on  in  the  library  and  write.  The  little  family 
is  well.  M.  has  been  to  school  all  day;  is  fast 
getting  back  to  her  health  before  the  break,  though 
the  stiff  arm  is  a  perpetual  reminder  of  how  hard  it 
is  for  man  to  make  God's  work  good  when  we  are  so 
unfortunate  as  to  mar  his  perfect  mechanism.  She 
and  J'aime  are  in  the  kitchen  keeping  warm  and  listen- 
ing to  Eliza,  who  is  crooning  over  some  old  Irish  tales 
to  them. 

Father  is  in  Bangor,  accompanying  the  President. 
I  took  M.  and  J'aime  and  drove  as  near  the  depot 
as  I  dared  Tuesday  afternoon.  There  was  a  great 
crowd,  and  Grant  was  as  miserable  as  is  his  wont 
on  such  occasions.  I  did  not  see  him,  as  I  sat  high 
up  the  hill  in  the  carriage,  neither  did  I  see  the 
other  dignitaries  who  were  present.  But  I  saw,  best 
of  all,  your  Father,  who,  as  soon  as  he  had  introduced 
the  President  to  Mayor  Evelyth,  hunted  us  up  and 
spent  a  delightful  quarter  of  an  hour  at  the  carriage. 
Joe  says  there  were  many  comparisons  drawn  between 
the  bearing  of  the  President  and  the  Speaker.  Prob- 
ably the  latter  never  stood  higher  in  the  affections  of 

[  48] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

his  fellow  citizens  than  he  does  at  this  moment.  After 
an  embarrassed  stay  of  fifteen  minutes,  the  cars  left. 
I  think  from  the  newspaper  accounts  that  the  whole 
celebration  at  Bangor  must  be  a  great  success.  Your 
Father  told  me  that  he  dined  at  Mr.  Hooper's  Sun- 
day evening  with  Agassiz,  Longfellow,  Holmes,  Lowell 
and  other  savants;   enjoyed  it  extremely. 

When  the  show  was  over  Aunt  Caddie  came  down 
to  tea,  and  we  were  fearfully  disappointed  not  to 
receive  a  letter  from  vou.  Your  Father  could  not 
believe  that  I  had  none  for  him,  and  now  as  late  as 
Tuesday  afternoon,  none  has  come.  You  cannot  tell 
how  anxious  it  makes  me  not  to  hear.  I  knew  when 
I  gave  my  consent  to  your  going  to  Europe  that 
necessarily  anxious  days  and  nights  must  be  mine, 
but  if  you  are  well,  you  ought  at  least  twice  a  week 
to  send  off  a  few  lines.  It  is  delightful  —  nothing 
could  be  more  so,  to  have  long  letters  from  you,  but 
a  line  would  keep  me  from  imagining  all  sorts  of 
disasters. 

A  letter  came  from  Mr.  Hale  Tuesday.  He  is  laid 
up  with  a  lame  leg ;  got  hurt  trying  to  get  on  a  car 
at  Portland;  cannot  be  in  Bangor,  as  any  risk  now 
endangers  the  limb  for  life.  Also  have  had  letters 
from  Mary  Wilson  and  Martha,  asking  to  be  taken 
into  service  next  winter ;  also  from  James  Jackson ; 
nothing  from  Robert.  As  is  my  custom,  I  dread  to 
vol.  i  —  4  49 


LETTERS    OF 

take  up  the  gay  life  in  Washington.  Shall  like  it 
no  doubt  when  my  dresses  are  made  and  I  am  well 
initiated.  I  suppose  you  see  by  the  American  papers 
all  the  Catacazy  *  gossip.  I  don't  think  his  wife  has 
anything  to  do  with  the  trouble,  as  it  is  really  all 
diplomatic,  but  it  seems  very  hard  on  her. 

0  Walker,  that  Chicago  calamity  grows  ever  more 
heartbreaking.  Five  hundred  children  they  say  — ■ 
though  I  do  not  believe  it  —  have  been  born  in  the 
open  air.     A  great  many,  happily,  have  not  lived. 

Good-night,  and  God  bless  you, 

Devotedly, 

Mothee. 

Augusta,  October  23. 
My  deae  Walkee,  —  This  is  a  summer  day  with 
us,  no  wrappings  needed,  a  haze  like  that  of  Indian 
summer  hanging  over  all  the  out  door  world.  Your 
Father  sits  here  at  the  table  toiling  away  over  his 
committees.  Hard,  hard  work!  As  fast  as  he  gets 
them  arranged,  just  so  fast  some  after  considera- 
tion comes  up  which  disarranges  not  one  but  many, 
and  over  tumbles  the  whole  row  of  bricks.  It  is  a 
matter  in  which  no  one  can  help  him. 

1  Constantin  de  Catacazy,  Russian  Minister,  recalled  at  request  of 
the  U.  S.  for  "his  personal  abuse  of  government  officials"  and  "per- 
sistent interferences  .  .  .  with  the  relations  between  the  U.  S.  and 
other  powers."     (President  Grant's  Third  Annual  Message.) 

[50] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

All  the  family  is  as  usual  this  morning.  What 
your  Father  and  I  are  doing  you  know.  Susan  is, 
I  judge  from  the  odor,  cake  making.  M.  has  gone 
off  hanging  on  the  arm  of  Maudie,  precisely  as  she 
did  "  before  the  fall  " ;  J'aime  is  out  with  Eliza  shuf- 
fling through  the  autumn  leaves ;  Alice  at  school ; 
and  the  girls,  where  all  New  England  sisters  of  toil 
—  to  use  Mrs.  Dalton's  term  —  are  to-day,  at  the 
washtub.  The  doorbell  has  been  ringing  the  whole 
morning,  your  Father  seeing  not  one  in  twenty  who 
call.  So  now  you  can  picture  to  yourself  the  menage 
precisely  as  it  stands. 

Saturday  was  made  memorable  by  the  arrival  of 
your  first  Paris  letter.  You  cannot  think  how 
anxious  we  were  to  hear.  As  I  told  you  in  my  last, 
your  Father  could  not  believe  that  I  had  not  a  letter 
for  him  when  I  met  him  Tuesday,  still  he  would  not 
permit  me  to  express  the  least  anxiety;  but  when 
he  came  Friday  afternoon  and  still  no  letter,  he  could 
not  quite  conceal  his  own  anxiety.  Of  course  we  cal- 
culated for  the  despatch  bag,  and  I  should  have 
allowed  for  one  day  more  before  quite  giving  up, 
but  when  I  came  out  of  my  room  at  the  ringing  of 
the  breakfast  bell  Saturday  morning,  I  was  greeted 
by  the  j oyf ul  words  —  "a  letter  of  the  longest  kind 
from  Walker !  "  Down  we  sat  at  the  table,  and  while 
I  poured  coffee  and  tea  and  otherwise  waited  on  the 

[51] 


LETTERS    OF 

children,  your  Father  read ;  then  when  he  had  read 
about  half,  I  took  the  manuscript  and  read  out  while 
he  ate  his  breakfast.  With  thankful  hearts  we  read 
of  your  getting  to  Paris  and  among  friends.  Now  I 
shall  feel  entirely  differently  than  I  have  while  you 
were  in  London  entirely  isolated.  We  like  your 
arrangement  about  school  very  much.  Of  course 
it  is  an  experiment,  but  I  hope  it  will  work  satisfac- 
torily ;  at  any  rate,  you  will  not  fail  to  master 
French. 

Friday  morning  I  had  a  telegram  from  your  Father 
saying  he  would  not  be  at  home  until  afternoon.  He 
had  left  Bangor  the  night  before  with  the  President 
and  gone  through  to  Portland,  then  after  a  wearisome 
procession,  at  one  o'clock  he  took  leave  of  His  Ex- 
cellency and  set  his  face  homewards,  and  here  he  now 
is  and  here  he  expects  to  stay  for  at  least  a  week. 
I  suppose  there  never  was  anything  like  the  time  they 
had  in  Bangor ;  the  speeches  were  good  as  they  could 
be,  underlying  the  speeches  the  best  of  feeling.  Hos- 
pitality flowed  like  a  river,  and  not  one  untoward 
circumstance  marred  the  perfect  whole.  Your  Father 
stopped  with  Mr.  Hamlin,1  and  was  obliged  to  borrow 
his  host's  dress  coat  to  wear  to  one  dinner  and  recep- 
tion.    Don't  you  think  he  must  have  looked  funny? 

1  Hannibal  Hamlin  of  Maine ;  U.  S.  Senator,  and  Vice-President 
in  President  Lincoln's  first  term. 

[52] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

As  Hannibal  never  wears  coats  of  any  other  cut,  of 
course  he  had  one  in  reserve  for  himself. 

We  are  still  continually  sympathizing  with  Chi- 
cago. The  M's  got  back  to  the  city  Saturday  even- 
ing. Sunday  night  they  went  to  bed;  were  called 
up  about  an  hour  after  midnight,  and  taking  what 
clothing  they  could  carry  in  their  arms,  fled  for 
their  lives.  One  hundred  and  twenty  took  refuge 
in  the  house  where  they  found  shelter.  There  they 
stayed  for  a  few  days,  sleeping  anywhere  where 
they  could  improvise  a  bed  and  sharing  with  each 
other  whatever  they  could  obtain.  Now  they  are 
three  miles  out  of  the  city,  will  stay  there  for  the 
present. 

This  afternoon  Aunt  Susan  has  been  to  the  vestry 
to  devise  ways  and  means  for  sending  clothes  to  Wis- 
consin and  Michigan  to  the  burned  out  people  there. 
Nothing  can  exceed  the  misery  and  desolation  of  those 
regions. 

Your  Father  is  waiting  to  take  my  letter  to  the 
postoffice,  so  I  must  say  good-night  to  my  dear  boy. 
I  long  to  see  you  —  no  words  can  express  how  much.  \ 
I  have  every  confidence  that  you  will  not  abuse  your 
Father's  indulgence.  If  you  make  any  mistake,  be 
sure  to  write  me  or  him  all  about  it.  Do  not  be 
afraid  under  any  circumstances  of  giving  us  your 
fullest  confidence.    When  your  Father  was  in  Bangor 

[53] 


LETTERS    OF 

he  saw  a  great  deal  of  Rear  Admiral  Alden.1    He  sails 

very  soon  for  Europe  —  takes  out  General  Sherman. 

His  ship  is  the  Wabash,  the  flagship  of  the  European 

squadron.     He  has  invited  you  to  go  with  him,  but 

your  Father  felt  obliged  to  decline  because  he  wants 

you  to  improve  your  stay  in  Paris  by  the  acquisition 

of  French.     Good-night,  be  a  good  boy,  and  Heaven 

bless  and  keep  you,  — 

Mother. 

Augusta,  November  12,  1871. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  As  you  see  by  the  date, 
this  is  Sunday  morning,  and  a  small  portion  of  my 
large  family  is  just  filing  out  to  church — Susan 
and  Alice.  Real  genuine  and  deep  snow  covers  the 
ground,  and  as  the  best  carriage  is  essentially  a 
summer  bird,  and  the  old  admits  all  the  mud  and 
slush  to  their  dresses,  they  walk.  Meanwhile  I  sit 
at  home  in  my  own  chamber  at  the  east  window  and 
write  to  my  dear  boy  in  Paris.  I  think  how  the  very 
last  time  I  went  to  church  he  also  went  to  the  American 

1  James  Alden,  U.  S.  N.,  who  led  Farragut's  fleet  at  the  Battle  of 
Mobile  Bay.  In  1871,  at  Admiral  Alden's  invitation,  Gen.  W.  T.  Sher- 
man, then  General  of  the  Army,  with  the  consent  of  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  War,  accompanied  him  for  a  cruise  in  the  Mediterranean 
on  the  U.  S.  Frigate  Wabash.  General  Sherman  arranged  to  be  gone 
five  months  but  made  the  condition  that  he  should  be  in  readiness  to 
return  within  thirty  days'  notice  by  telegram.  —  The  Sherman  Letters; 
edited  by  Rachel  Sherman  Thorndike.    1894. 

[54] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Chapel  in  Paris.  The  next  Sunday  morning  long  be- 
fore the  bells  were  ringing  the  little  sister  was  here, 
and  of  course  public  devotions  were  and  are  sus- 
pended for  a  season.  This  morning  she  lies  here  on 
the  bed,  quite  a  girl  I  assure  you.  The  only  other 
room  occupant  is  a  dreadful  trial  to  me.  I  call  her 
everything  I  can  think  of  —  Goody,  a  Witch,  a  Crone, 
an  Old  Hag,  a  Circe,  a  Fateful  Sister;  in  fact,  she 
is  only  a  nurse,  but  if  you  will  transpose  the  n  into 
a  c  you  will  hit  her  character  much  better.  I  have 
had  seven  children,  but  I  never  longed  before  with  all 
my  heart  to  be  well  enough  to  wait  on  myself.  Her 
name  is  Burns,  and  she  says  one  of  my  boys  used  to 
drive  her  cow  home  from  pasture  for  her.  Of  course 
it  was  Emmons,  I  am  morally  certain  you  never  did 
anything  of  the  kind.  Just  here  comes  a  rush.  The 
door  flies  open  as  though  a  whirlwind  had  set  its 
shoulder  against  it,  and  J'aime  projects  himself  into 
the  room,  —  almost  as  fat  as  Emmons,  growing  hand- 
somer every  day,  and  fascinating  by  every  word  he 
speaks. 

I  have  little  to  chronicle  beside  the  quiet  annals 
of  a  convalescent's  room.  George's  grandmother  is 
dead.  She  died  Friday  afternoon.  As  she  was  very 
old  and  very  crazy,  so  much  so  that  the  family  often 
feared  for  their  lives,  there  did  not  seem  to  be  any 
good  reason  why  they  should  send  to  me  for  flowers, 

[55] 


LETTERS    OF 

but  there  they  were,  my  delicate  chrysanthemums, 
blooming  in  my  vestibule  windows,  and  the  eternal 
fitness  of  things,  to  their  comprehension,  required 
that  they  should  fade  and  die  on  granny's  coffin,  and 
Susan  cut  them  off  untimely.  Poor  flowers,  high- 
bred things,  I  really  felt  for  them  in  their  uncon- 
genial end! 

Father  left  for  New  York  Wednesday.  I  could 
hardly  let  him  go,  I  needed  his  reviving  society  so 
much,  but  he  had  wool  and  cotton  manufacturers  to 
meet  in  Boston ;  dinners,  breakfasts  and  luncheons, 
all  or  some,  to  give  and  take  in  New  York,  and 
over  and  above  all  pressures  to  resist  or  permit 
of  congressional  committees.  He  had  to  go,  but  felt 
that  my  desire  to  keep  him  was  all  right  and  natural, 
so,  with  a  man's  appreciation  of  a  woman's  nature, 
he  promised  to  buy  silk  dresses  for  M.  and  Alice, 
to  say  nothing  of  half  a  dozen  for  myself.  When  I 
look  at  the  bed  and  the  little  heap  of  flannel  on  it, 
laces,  silks,  feathers  and  gew-gaws  of  every  descrip- 
tion resolve  themselves  into  preposterousness ;  but 
your  Father  is  strong  of  will  and  I  am  weak,  and 
he  is  determined  that  I  shall  be  in  society  this  winter, 
and  I  know  I  shall.  Very  few  women  with  a  baby 
two  weeks  old  would  sit  up  and  write  a  letter  —  I 
never  expect  to  have  a  daughter-in-law  to  do  it,  — 
but  there  is  something  within  which  forces  me  up, 

[56] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

recuperativenesss,  I  suppose  it  is,  for  I  remember  an 
old  country  doctor  telling  me,  when  I  was  a  year  older 
than  Flo  Gibbs  on  her  birthday,  that  I  had  more 
recuperative  power  than  he  had  ever  seen  in  any 
other  person.  Since  your  Father  left  I  have  heard 
from  him  several  times.  He  spent  Thursday  even- 
ing at  Aunt  Eliza's,  —  everyone  pleasant  and  pleased 
to  see  him,  but  he  sighs  after  his  own  bright  fire- 
side, indescribably  dear  to  him.  You  cannot  think 
how  interesting  all  your  letter  was  to  me.  I  enjoy 
descriptions  of  public  objects,  but  infinitely  more  the 
least  thing  about  yourself  and  your  personal  sur- 
roundings.   Your  birds  elicited  a  great  cry  —  "  Two 

canaries,  O  mother !  "     I  recollect  the  H girls 

very  well,  though  I  never  was  introduced  to  them. 
Their  dress  at  Willard's  was  very  nondescript.  I 
well  remember  their  red  slippers,  also  I  think  they 
wore  red  satin  jerkins,  or  something  of  that  sort. 

Your  Father  will  be  delighted  to  find  that  you  are 
getting  under  headway  in  French.  Let  nothing  keep 
you  from  earnest  application.  O  how  fond  I  was  of 
study  when  I  was  your  age !  I  never  had  any  gift 
at  writing,  but  other  gifts  I  certainly  had.  In  this 
deficiency  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  Mons  is  my  own 
child.  He  writes  me  little,  short,  unsatisfactory 
letters,  usually  mostly  taken  up  with  acknowledging 
a  letter   of  my   own,   and   ending   always   one   way. 

[57] 


LETTERS    OF 

According  to  his  own  story  he  is  a  perfect  Mussul- 
man for  prayers  —  the  evening  bell  invariably  calling 
him  away  from  his  letter.  When  you  receive  this 
letter  he  will  probably  be  at  home  spending  his 
Thanksgiving  vacation.  The  Wyman  children  are 
getting  ready  for  him.  I  see  they  give  Alice  two 
apples  every  day. 

Greatly  to  your  Father's  discomfort,  I  cannot  go 
on  until  after  the  holidays.  On  this  I  take  my 
stand,  and  he  has  to  submit.  He  will  sleep  in  the 
house,  have  a  servant  or  two,  and  take  his  meals  at 
Wormley's,1  and  the  menage  will  open  with  the  New 
Year. 

Good-by  now.  If  this  does  not  hurt  me,  I  will  add 
to  my  letter  to-morrow.  Can  see  EKza  hustling 
J'aime  into  the  house  in  slippers,  his  ruffles  en  des- 
habille and  a  Paris  sacque  on  his  shoulders.  He  got 
out  for  a  snow-ball.     Think  of  that,  November  12th. 

Monday  afternoon,  4-|. 
Dear  Walker,  —  I  resume  my  letter  of  yesterday, 
though  I  have  little  more  that  is  new  to  tell.  Have 
just  had  the  pleasure  of  reading  two  letters  from 
your  Father,  one  written  yesterday  afternoon  and 
the   other  in   the   evening.      This   seems   very   quick 

1  "Wormley's,"  a  hotel  on  the  southwest  corner  of  H  and  Fifteenth 
Streets. 

[58] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

time  from  New  York.  He  does  not  expect  to  reach 
home  before  the  very  close  of  the  week.  The  Presi- 
dent's whole  family,  General  and  Senator  Sherman,1 
are  there  to  see  the  Wabash  sail.  They  had  been  to 
see  Lord  Dundreary  by  the  same  actor  you  saw  in 
London ;  2  said  it  seemed  to  bring  you  very  near. 
Was  exceedingly  anxious  to  get  your  letter.  I  sent 
it  to  him  by  the  early  mail  of  the  morning. 

The  children  have  been  out  all  this  afternoon  mak- 
ing a  snow  man.  In  everything  of  this  kind  Alice 
is  really  artistic  and  this  afternoon  she  has  surpassed 
herself.  The  baby  is  crying,  so  I  have  got  to  get  off 
my  letter  at  once,  so  goodby.  As  soon  as  your 
Father  comes  to  instruct  me  in  the  mysteries  of  the 
despatch  bag,  I  will  send  Bret  Harte  and  periodicals. 

Now  good-by, 

Devotedly, 

Mother. 

November  26,  1871. 
Sunday  morning. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  A  half  hour  alone  with  the 
little  sister  while  she  takes  her  nap  gives  me  an  op- 

1  Senator  John  Sherman,  of  Ohio,  General  Sherman's  brother. 

2  The  elder  Sothern  enjoyed  a  tremendous  vogue  in  those  days  in 
the  part  of  Lord  Dundreary  in  "Our  American  Cousin,"  by  Tom 
Taylor,  first  produced  in  1858  at  Laura  Keene's  Theatre  in  New  York. 
It  was  during  a  performance  of  "Our  American  Cousin"  at  Ford's 
Theatre,  Washington,  that  President  Lincoln  was  assassinated  by 
Wilkes  Booth,  April  14,  1865. 

[59] 


LETTERS    OF 

portunity  of  at  least  commencing  a  letter  to  you. 
Down  stairs  Mr.  Sherman  is  trying  to  put  some 
final  touches  to  the  copying  of  the  committees.  Alas, 
if  final  touches  are  not  soon  put  to  them  I  am  afraid 
your  Father  will  give  out  entirely.  For  the  first  time 
in  his  life  he  says  he  feels  a  strain  upon  him  which 
affects  his  brain.  His  head  aches  badly  every  day, 
and  at  night  his  circulation  is  feeble  and  he  is  very 
languid.  Tomorrow  he  leaves  for  Washington,  get- 
ting there  Thursday  or  Friday.  He  made  his  usual 
preparation  last  night  by  having  up  a  barber  at  the 
house.  The  door-bell  was  ringing  continually  and 
people  calling  on  him  all  the  time,  so  after  the  ton- 
sorial  professor  had  been  introduced  to  my  room  and 
a  large  linen  spread  down  for  the  protection  of  the 
carpet,  Emmons  sat  down.  His  hair  had  been  cut 
very  lately  in  Boston,  but  it  certainly  needed  clip- 
ping, and  then  Mons  was  not  averse  to  saving  one 
fee.  When  he  was  through  we  put  J'aime  into  his 
high  chair.  The  pretty  little  fellow  would  not  permit 
himself  to  wink.  When  he  was  cropped,  we  had  up 
father.  It  is  a  work  of  art  now  to  cut  your  Father's 
hair  and  leave  at  the  same  time  enough  on  the  head. 
Happily  however  this  desirable  end  was  achieved,  and 
at  ten  Monsieur  took  his  leave  with  $5  out  of  my 
pocket  book  for  himself  and  $3  for  Dennis  Berry, 
that  poor  handless  man.     Emmons  got  home,  as  you 

[60] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

know,  Tuesday  afternoon.  When  he  was  going  to 
bed  he  came  to  the  stairway  and  called  down  to  Susan 
to  know  if  she  would  mend  his  trousers.  Of  course 
she  would,  but  when  she  took  hold  of  them  she  was 
perfectly  appalled  to  find  one  side  of  the  seat  almost 
gone,  and  not  a  scrap  to  mend  with,  and  these  were 
all  he  had  —  his  new  ones  not  having  come  from 
Boston.  Your  old  clothes  —  all  which  have  not  gone 
to  Wisconsin  or  Michigan  —  were  overhauled,  and, 

0  good  luck,  one  pair  of  Scotch  grey  trousers  did 
turn  up,  which  Emmons  by  never  putting  his  hands 
into  his  pockets,  has  managed  to  wear.  What  would 
he  have  done  without  them?  —  for  the  Boston  ones 
proved  so  small  they  had  to  be  sent  back.  You 
will  be  amazed  to  see  how  large  Emmons  is ;  his  appe- 
tite too  is  immense.  He  insists  this  time  on  trying 
the  club.  His  Father  is  opposed  to  it,  but  he  says 
he  is  bound  to  save  on  his  board. 

Mrs.    Stowell    is    dead,  —  she    died    Wednesdav. 
Emmons'  report  came  by  the  morning's  mail,  and  is, 

1  believe,  quite  satisfactory.  What  did  not  come 
and  what  your  Father,  Alice,  Emmons  and  I  were  all 
watching  at  the  window  for  for  a  full  half  hour  be- 
fore Henry  Breen  came  along,  was  a  blue  enveloped 
letter  from  you.  Your  Father  would  allow  no  one  to 
go  to  the  door  for  it  but  himself.  But  alas,  though 
there  was  a  very  bright  letter  from  Gail  Hamilton, 


LETTERS    OF 

a  racy  one  from  Horace  White,1  and  a  gossipy  one 
from  Joe  Manley,  who  had  ridden  over  a  western  rail- 
way with  Colfax 2  and  interviewed  him,  there  was 
nothing  from  across  the  water.  The  detention  by  the 
despatch  bag  is  sometimes  very  much  longer  than  it 
should  be. 

I  have  had  three  dinners  this  last  week  got  ready 
for  Governor  Coburn3 — Tuesday,  Thursday  and  Fri- 
day. Friday  he  came,  and  your  Father  and  he  had 
a  very  satisfactory  business  interview.  Yesterday 
John  Rice  was  here  to  dinner.  I  seem  to  have  resumed 
all  my  cares.  The  baby  is  four  weeks  old  to-day. 
My  nurse  has  been  gone  a  week.  I  go  down  to  all 
my  meals,  cheer  your  Father  if  he  is  down-hearted, 
coax  him  out  of  medicines  and  into  food,  am  all 
things  to  all  moods.  Then  I  do  the  marketing 
through  George,  overlook  sewing,  keep  the  children 
in  abeyance  as  much  as  I  can,  and  over  all  and 
through  all  care  for  the  little  baby,  who  is  too  young, 
I  think,  to  be  trusted  to  a  nurse.  I  was  never  in- 
tended for  anything  but  an  old  fashioned  woman,  all 

1  At  that  time  editor  and  part  proprietor  of  the  Chicago  Tribune ; 
editorial  writer  on  New  York  Evening  Post  from  1883  to  1903. 

2  Schuyler  Colfax,  Member  of  Congress  from  Indiana,  Speaker  of 
the  House,  and  at  this  time  Vice-President  under  Grant.  Though 
exonerated  in  the  Credit  Mobilier  investigation  he  retired  from  politics, 
and  devoted  himself  to  giving  lectures,  his  most  popular  subjects  being 
"Across  the  Continent"  and  "Abraham  Lincoln." 

z  Abner  Coburn,  Governor  of  Maine  1862-64. 

[62] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

hands.     The  modern  idea,  and  the  better,  is  to  be  the 
head,  and  let  others  serve  for  hands. 


November  29,  1871     Wednesday  evening. 

Dear  Walker,  —  It  has  just  occurred  to  me  that 
to-morrow  being  Thanksgiving,  I  shall  have  no  time 
for  writing  letters,  so  although  it  is  already  late, 
I  will  sit  up  long  enough  to  write  a  few  lines.  For- 
tunately I  am  not  in  France,  so  I  shall  not  have  to 
go  to  bed  to  keep  warm.  It  is  a  stinging  cold  night, 
however,  the  wind  blowing  a  hurricane  and  carrying 
away  apparently  all  the  heat  we  should  have  within 
walls.  Emmons  has  gone  to  a  Thanksgiving  ball  at 
Granite  Hall,  so  of  course  he  will  not  be  at  home 
for  a  long  while.  I  coaxed  him  into  letting  me  get 
him  a  pair  of  pantaloons  made  by  Bosworth.  They 
turned  out  so  much  handsomer  than  Callows',  that 
he  preferred  them  for  the  ball;  also,  I  got  him  sus- 
penders, which  helped  his  appearance  very  much; 
and  at  the  last  moment  I  produced  an  old  pair  of 
gloves  of  yours,  which  I  had  providentially  put  away 
when  I  was  taking  care  of  your  leavings.  He  took 
a  dollar  for  his  own  ticket  and  another  for  Jimmie 
Stinson's,  and  his  own  supper,  so  I  presume  he  will 
turn  up  to-morrow  morning  with  a  good  headache. 
His  present  purpose  is  to  get  up  to  an  8-%  break- 

[63] 


LETTERS    OF 

fast  at  Aunt  Emily's  to-morrow  morning,  but  I  shall 
let  him  sleep  till  noon  if  he  wants  to.  He  and  Alice 
are  also  to  go  to  Aunt  Em's  to  dinner.  I  will  send 
her  a  turkey  and  other  things,  and  they  and  Aunt 
Augusta's  family  and  Aunt  Hannah's,  with  the 
Mason's  come  here  to  supper.  Aunt  Susan  has  been 
in  the  kitchen  all  day,  so  you  can  imagine  the  turkeys 
and  oysters,  the  pies  and  salads,  the  cake  and  coffee, 
which  long  before  you  are  reading  this  letter  will  have 
gone  to  join  the  innumerable  company  of  Thanks- 
giving suppers. 

This  morning,  to  my  great  delight  —  for  I  had 
given  up  expecting  anything  from  the  Scotia  —  your 
two  letters  in  reply  to  your  Father's  turned  up.  I  at 
once  telegraphed  him  to  the  Parker  House,  saying 
that  his  surmises  were  correct,  both  as  to  person, 
money  and  address,  —  calling  no  names,  as  a  tele- 
gram always  seems  to  be  semi-public.  His  anxiety 
I  knew  was  great,  and  he  could  not  get  your  letter 
until  he  reached  Washington,  as  he  was  to  leave  at 
3  this  afternoon  for  New  York.  He  will  be  so  pleased 
at  his  own  shrewd  guessing  that  he  will  not  be  very 
severe  on  you,  but  Mr.  S.  will  not  escape.  I  want 
to  know  nothing  more  about  him.  To  borrow  of 
a  boy  of  16  traveling  for  educational  purposes  under 
his  father's  instructions,  and  to  borrow  while  he  was 
inviting  him  to  his  house,  —  oh,  the  bad  taste !    I  do 

[64] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

not  think  one  hard  thought  of  you,  but  what  would 
I  think  of  your  Father  doing  as  Mr.  S.  has  done? 
Your  letters  were  admirable.  I  never  had  a  fear 
that  you  had  done  anything  wrong.  You  made  a 
great  mistake  in  not  writing  about  it,  and  a  mistake 
in  not  declining  to  lend  to  Mr.  S.,  but  I  never  for  one 
moment  feared  that  you  had  been  wicked.  If  the 
money  is  refunded,  it  will  make  no  difference  in  my 
estimate  of  the  man. 

Tom  got  away  yesterday  afternoon,  a  happy  man, 
as  your  father  had  told  him  he  need  not  go  to  Wash- 
ington until  New  Years.  We  have  had  quite  a  sud- 
den death  in  our  neighborhood.  Callie  Breen,  nee 
Williams,  died  at  four  o'clock  this  morning  of  ty- 
phoid fever.  I  only  heard  of  her  sickness  yesterday. 
She  was  22,  so  it  is  two  years  since  she  took  care  of 
Alice.  I  saw  her  to-day,  and  the  color  of  her  race 
stood  out  very  markedly  on  her  dead  face. 

I  have  just  been  reading  of  the  execution  of  Rossel.1 

1  Louis  Nathaniel  Rossel,  Chief  of  Legion  of  the  17th  Arrondisse- 
ment  of  Paris,  formerly  Captain  of  Engineers  at  Met/,  whence  he 
escaped  after  the  surrender  of  that  fortress  and  was  made  Colonel  by 
Gambetta ;  being  reduced  to  his  former  rank  by  Thiers,  he  deserted 
the  government  and  joined  the  Commune.  He  was  chief  of  the  com- 
mission of  barricades,  and  one  of  the  few  leaders  of  the  Commune  that 
had  any  military  ability.  He  was  unable  to  agree  with  the  Canute 
Centrale  and  was  subsequently  imprisoned,  but  escaped.  After  the 
Commune  he  was  executed  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  for  bearing 
arms  against  France.      Of  the  prisoners  taken  after  the  Commune 

vol.  i  —5  65 


LETTERS    OF 

I  know  nothing  about  the  politics  of  France,  but 
how  dreadful  that  people  must  still  be  condemned 
in  that  unhappy  country. 

Mrs.  Warren  Fisher  has  another  daughter  —  a 
great  disappointment  to  her,  as  they  are  anxious 
to  have  a  son  and  this  is  the  fourth  daughter.  I 
am  sorry  to  say  that  Mr.  Fisher  seems  to  be  fast 
losing  in  the  esteem  of  all  good  men.  Every  new 
discovery  your  Father  makes  only  seems  to  show  a 
baseness  still  deeper.  Will  he  ever  reach  the  bottom 
of  his  treachery  towards  himself? 

Emmons  has  been  skating  all  day  —  fun  for  him, 
but  hard  fare  for  the  horse  as  he  rides  to  his  pleasure 
grounds,  blankets  poor  old  Prince,  and  comes  home 
only  when  he  is  hungry.  I  expect  he  takes  girls,  as 
he  has  the  best  carriage.  He  is  so  kind  and  pleasant 
and  is  so  bright  and  gay  I  can  refuse  him  nothing. 
I  make  a  very  poor  mother.  Your  old  grays  gave 
out  Monday.  If  they  had  gone  west  and  fallen  into 
the  possession  of  a  slim  youth,  doubtless  they  would 
have  endured  some  time  longer.  Fortunately  an- 
other pair  of  yours  came  to  light,  striped,  rather  loud 
in  style  for  you.  These  are  now  pressed  into  the 
service. 

some  twelve  hundred  suffered  various  penalties,  ninety-five  being 
executed.  Thomas  March,  The  History  of  the  Paris  Commune, 
London,  1896. 

[66] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Cousin  Abby  has  written  me  since  she  got  your 
letter.  She  writes  me  often  the  brightest  and  wittiest 
of  letters.  She  was  very  much  pleased  with  your 
writing  her.  She  is  going  to  Washington  this  winter. 
But  paper,  time  and  baby  cry  out  to  say  good-night, 
and  I  say  it,  only  first  repeating  how  satisfied  I  am 
with  your  explanation.  Be  always  a  good  boy  and 
delight  your  affectionate, 

Mother. 

Thursday  evening,  December  28. 
Dear  Walker,  —  After  getting  off  your  letter 
Monday  evening  I  turned  my  attention  to  your 
Father's  toilet.  I  do  not  know  whether  or  not  I  wrote 
you  that  we  were  invited  to  the  golden  wedding  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fuller,  and  that  just  at  tea  time,  when 
I  was  rejoicing  in  the  thought  of  wearing  some  of 
my  finery  in  Augusta,  it  came  out  that  your  Father 
had  no  clothes  at  home  except  those  in  which  he  was 
then  standing,  a  roughish  suit  a  year  old.  What 
Chicago  had  not  swallowed  up,  had  gone  to  Wash- 
ington. We  were  both  full  of  regret,  as  you  may 
believe.  The  Pater  took  a  candle  and  made  search 
in  the  trunk  room,  but  nothing  came  of  it  but  two 
gaiters,  and  even  those  were  not  alike.  To  match 
the  gaiters,  I  myself  went  westward,  and  returned 
triumphant,  bringing   on   my   arm  a  pair   of  black 

[07] 


LETTERS    OF 

trousers  not  too  much  the  worse  for  wear,  a  swallow 
tail  coat  —  very  much  of  a  swallow,  too  —  made  in 
Paris  when  your  Father  was  in  Europe ;  lavendar 
gloves  almost  new  turned  up  in  the  pantaloon 
pockets ;  —  in  short,  every  essential  of  a  first  class 
society  dress  was  drummed  up  from  one  quarter  or 
another,  with  the  single  exception  of  a  white  cravat ; 
and  at  nine  o'clock  behold  us  in  the  narrow  sleigh  with 
George  for  postillion  en  route.  Over  my  own  dress 
I  sported  almost  $300.  worth  of  black  lace,  so  I  hope 
nothing  more  need  be  said  about  my  own  toilet.  You 
never  saw  any  one  so  pleased  as  was  your  Father  with 
his  dress.  When  I  went  down  into  the  parlor  on  my 
way  to  the  sleigh  I  found  all  the  burners  lighted, 
while  he  turned  himself  about  and  about  admiring  old 
clothes  as  good  as  new  —  as  good !  a  thousand  times 
better  in  his  eyes !  Of  the  wedding  you  will  not  care 
to  hear  much.  There  was  a  table  laden  with  pres- 
ents, a  handsome  supper,  a  poem  by  Mme.  Dillingham 
read  by  Mrs.  Beach  and  sung  to  the  tune  of  Auld 
Lang  Syne,  the  house  trimmed  with  Christmas  greens, 
the  whole  Williams  clan,  —  and  last  a  dance,  the  jig 
led  off  by  Mrs.  Fuller  and  Arthur  Edwards'  grand- 
father. I  was  taken  out  to  supper  by  Dr.  Harlow, 
and  saw  your  father  leading  in  Mrs.  Lang.  Emmons 
was  invited,  but  preferred  to  spend  his  evening  with 
the  Wyman  girls  ;  he  told  George  he  might  stay  in  the 

[68] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

kitchen  and  he  would  drive  over  with  us.  When  he 
rang  the  bell  Aunt  Helen  came  to  the  door,  so  of 
course  Mons  had  to  go  in.  He  did  very  well,  but  said 
coming  home  he  wished  his  hands  had  been  clean. 
When  he  was  coming  away  Aunt  Helen  brought  him 
a  napkin  and  cake,  also  Anna  Cutler's  picture  to  look 
at.  Emmons  got  off  Tuesday  noon.  Had  a  lunch  of 
cold  Indian  cake  and  apple  pie,  and  was  not  other- 
wise burdened  with  luggage  even  to  a  collar.  We 
have  not  heard  from  Emmons  since  he  arrived  in  An- 
dover,  for  Emmons,  though  a  very  good  talker,  holds 
a  more  cramped  pen  than  even  I  do.  Father  wrote  to 
Mr.  Tilton  and  told  him  that  he  and  he  alone  was  to 
blame  for  the  delay  in  Mons'  return.  Mr.  Sherman 
came  that  night.  Yesterday  morning  your  Father 
went  to  Boston ;  hopes  to  return  to-morrow.  By  the 
way,  they  are  just  taking  off  the  Pullman  car  from 
this  road  and  putting  it  on  the  other  —  doing  it  to 
appease  Lewiston.  As  it  has  been  well  patronized 
by  Augusta  people,  such  treatment  seems  rather 
rough. 

Mr.  Hale  went  through  town  yesterday  on  his  way 
to  Ellsworth.  He  says  he  shall  stick  to  Maine,  means 
to  buy  the  old  Peters  place  in  Ellsworth.  Had  I 
known  they  were  going  through  I  would  have  seen 
them,  though  it  was  out  of  the  question  for  me  to  ask 
them  to  stop.     I  believe  our  first  Washington  dinner 

[69] 


LETTERS    OF 

is  to  be  given  to  them.  Your  Father  has  to  buy,  while 
in  Boston  this  time,  cutler}7,  table  linen,  china,  and 
ornamentation  generally.  I  shrink  perceptibly  when 
I  think  of  taking  up  all  the  ceremonies  of  Washing- 
ton life.  As  we  expect  to  leave  Wednesday,  I  am  in 
all  the  rush  and  pressure  of  preparation. 


To  Mr.  Blaine,  in  Washington  1 

Monday  evening,  December  11. 

My  dear,  —  I  am  getting  discouraged  about  the 
little  sister  and  the  receptions  and  dinners,  etc.  of 
the  winter.  Whom  can  I  leave  the  baby  with  so  that 
if  she  cries  I  shall  not  fly  the  table  to  your  and  my 
unutterable  disgrace?  It  does  not  seem  that  I  can 
do  much  for  podsnappery  this  winter.  Professor 
Barber  has  been  down  to  see  me  this  afternoon,  really 
overflowing  with  congratulations  on  your  most  happy 
selections  of  committees ;  says  he  shall  tell  you  to 
"  cut  off  the  tail  of  the  dog."  When  Alcibiades  did 
so  many  fine  things  that  he  was  afraid  of  being  forced 

1  This  is  one  of  the  few  existing  letters  to  Mr.  Blaine,  and  was 
probably  preserved  by  being  enclosed  in  a  letter  to  Walker.  On 
Mr.  Blaine's  return  from  any  journey,  it  was  Mrs.  Blaine's  invariable 
custom  to  destroy  any  of  her  letters  she  could  lay  her  hands  on. 

[70] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

into  some  great  office,  he  cut  off  the  tail  of  a  dog  to 
show  that  he  could  do  a  foolish  deed. 

The  afternoon  mail  brought  me  your  letter  telling 
of  Charlie  Caldwell's  prospective  promotion,  but  I 
have  not  seen  any  of  Sylvanus'  family  this  evening. 
I  am  thinking  of  having  our  Society  the  week  you  are 
at  home.  I  fancy  it  would  be  a  most  gratifying  and 
popular  thing  to  do.  Shall  you  be  at  home  the  Fri- 
day before  Christmas?  Be  sure  to  tell  me.  I  am  so 
tired  I  cannot  spell.  Do  excuse  the  lifeless  notes  I 
write.  I  certainly  must  find  time  in  the  morning  to 
do  a  cheerful  line.  You  do  not  know  how  this  mat- 
ter of  dressing  and  partying  haunts  me.  I  am  getting 
to  love  the  little  sister  so,  and  everything  savoring 
of  neglect  to  her  is  so  foreign  to  my  usual  life. 

To  Walker,  in  France 

December  31,  1871,  Sunday  evening. 
My  dear  Walker,  —  I  must  commence  a  letter  to 
you  to-night,  even  though  I  write  by  a  poorer  fire 
than  yours  in  Paris.  The  house  is  in  the  last  stage 
of  confusion  preparatory  to  the  breaking  up  here 
and  my  starting  for  Washington  next  Wednesday, 
and  all  my  good  andirons  are  doing  duty  down  stairs, 
while  here  in  my  room  are  those  tall  cold  solitaires 
which,  as  Charles  Lamb  once  said  of  a  man,  would 

[71] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

cast  a  gloom  over  a  funeral.  Mr.  Sherman  and  Uncle 
Jacob  are  both  here.  I  had  Miss  Sanborn  here  yes- 
terday sewing  for  the  little  sister,  making  her  a  trav- 
eling cloak.  Went  down  town  to  make  some  neces- 
sary purchases,  and  when  I  came  home  found  

here.     Judge  of  my  feelings !     M.  sick  in  my 


bed,  the  little  sister  occupying  a  crib  in  the  same 
room,  Father  using  the  west  room,  Mr.  Sherman 
the  irregular.  Do  you  remember  Miss  Sanborn  who 
has  so  often  sewed  for  me  with  Mrs.  Thorns?  Of 
course  you  do.  Well,  she  is  to  go  on  to  Washington 
with  me  to  help  about  the  children.  Martha,  the 
colored  girl  I  have  had  for  two  winters,  is  to  be  the 
regular  nurse,  but  Miss  Sanborn  will  be  there  as  a 
sort  of  breakwater.  I  am  very  much  delighted  with 
the  arrangement. 

All  day  long  your  Father,  I  and  Tom  Sherman 
have  been  paying  bills.  A  great  family  are  we,  so 
far  as  the  circulation  of  money  is  concerned.  To- 
night we  are  very  nearly  square  with  the  world. 

Devotedly, 

Mother. 


[  72] 


1872 


Among  Mr.  Blaine's  Washington  neighbors  at  this  time  were 
Governor  Buckingham,  then  Senator  from  Connecticut,  Thomas 
Swan,  a  Representative  from  Maryland,  Fernando  Wood,  a  Repre- 
sentative from  New  York,  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  a  Representative 
from  Massachusetts,  and  Hamilton  Fish,  of  New  York,  Secretary 
of  State. 

General  W.  T.  Sherman,  later  to  become  a  neighbor,  lived  at  this 
time  in  the  house  on  I  Street,  that  had  been  a  gift  first  to  General 
Grant  and  then  to  General  Sherman.  Mrs.  Sherman  was  a  cousin 
of  Mr.  Blaine  and  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Ewing,  who  was  Senator 
from  Ohio,  and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  the  cabinets  of  William 
Henry  Harrison  and  Tyler,  March  to  September,  1841,  and  who 
organized  the  Interior  Department  for  President  Taylor  in  1849. 
It  is  curious  that  he  was  thrown  out  of  both  the  Harrison  and  Taylor 
Cabinets  by  the  death  of  the  President.  He  had  three  sons,  Hugh 
Ewing,  Major-General  in  the  Civil  War,  and  United  States  Minister 
to  Holland,  1866-70;  Thomas  Ewing,  Major-General  in  the  Civil 
War,  and  Member  of  Congress  from  Ohio,  1877-81;  and  Charles 
Ewing,  Brigadier-General  in  the  Civil  War,  and  later  a  lawyer  in 
Washington. 


To  Alice,  in  School,  at  Augusta 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington,  Sunday,  January  8,  '72. 

My  dear  Alice,  —  I  suppose  you  have  thought 
of  us  as  all  settled  to-day  in  Washington  a  great 
many  times.  We  got  here  last  night  at  five,  very 
tired,  very  dirty,  and  very  anxious  to  get  rest,  a  bath 
and  something  to  eat.  It  seemed  good  to  see  Robert 
at  the  carriage  door,  and  have  some  one  to  carry  our 
bundles  even  into  the  house.  And  here  let  me  give 
you  a  little  piece  of  advice,  —  to  pack  everything 
away  before  starting  on  a  journey  so  as  to  go  arm 
free.  We  were  thoroughly  loaded  down  with  shawls, 
bags,  muffs,  overcoat,  basket  and  baby.  But  we  got 
through,  and  for  all  our  mercies  let  us  be  thankful. 

I  go  back  to  where  I  left  you  when  I  finished  my 
letter  Thursday  evening.  Father  and  Emmons  came 
home  from  the  theatre  in  good  season,  and  after  a 
little  chat  Emmons  went  off  to  his  room,  and  we  to 
bed.  In  the  morning  J'aime  came  in  all  dressed, 
Miss  Sanborn  having  taken  him  his  clothes  when  she 
went  to  bed.  The  next  morning,  Friday,  we  got  over 
breakfast  about  in  our  usual  season.  Miss  Sanborn 
and  J'aime  had  theirs  in  our  room.  After  breakfast 
just  as  I  finished  dressing  the  baby,  cousin  Abby  came 
in,  and  almost  immediately  after,  Jacob.    Uncle  Jacob 

[75] 


LETTERS    OF 

only  stayed  a  few  minutes,  as  Father  had  gone  out. 
He  said  Louisa  was  coming  in  very  shortly  and  would 
bring  in  some  ginger  bread  and  fruit.  Afraid  of 
getting  detained,  I  took  M.  and  went  off  at  once 
to  see  about  a  bonnet.  Ordered  a  black  velvet  hat, 
and  then  went  over  to  Holbrooks',  where  I  found 
Father  and  Cousin  Abby  awaiting  me.  Cousin  Abby 
bought  herself  an  elegant  shawl  which  Mr.  Holbrook 
had  shown  me  the  day  before,  and  I  bought  myself  a 
very  pretty  black  one  with  a  narrow  border,  suitable 
for  spring  and  summer  wear,  for  $75.  I  thought  of 
Aunt  Susan,  and  wished  she  could  have  the  shawl 
cousin  Abby  bought.  Your  Father  wanted  me  to  take 
it  for  myself.  I  also  bought  myself  a  black  lace  cape 
for  $35.  Emmons  came  in  and  took  M.  to  see 
Shreve's  store.  Father  had  left  us  some  time  before, 
and  my  next  visit  was  about  hair.  Here  I  was  de- 
tained a  long  time.  My  hair  was  all  taken  down,  a 
long  lock  cut  out,  and  at  last  I  decided  on  what  to 
have:  two  long  braids,  for  which  I  have  paid  $72. 
To  get  such  as  I  had  in  my  mind  would  cost  me 
$1,000.  After  my  hair  had  been  redone,  I  got  myself 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  French  and  went  back  to  the 
Parker  House.  Found  Miss  Sanborn  and  J'aime, 
with  the  little  sister,  quietly  sleeping.  As  it  was 
after  two,  I  concluded  to  order  our  dinner  up  stairs 
and  let  the  others  look  out  for  themselves.     When 

[76] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

I  got  back  to  the  Parker  House  it  was  after  five,  and 
I  was  so  tired,  I  was  cross.  Everyone  seemed  to  look 
upon  my  coming  as  a  signal  for  relief.  Burdens  were 
laid  down,  and  I  at  once  commenced  taking  them  up. 
First  of  all  —  the  baby,  who  had  endeared  herself  to 
every  heart  by  her  delightful  behavior.  Cousin  Abby 
was  obliged  to  go  away  at  once,  but  Frank  stayed  a 
long  time.  Miss  Sanborn,  your  Father  and  I  went 
down  to  get  a  cup  of  tea  and  a  bit  of  bread  and 
butter,  leaving  M.  asleep  on  the  sofa,  the  little  sister 
in  the  same  condition  on  the  bed,  and  J'aime  awake, 
with  Emmons.  When  we  came  back  we  found  the 
little  fellow  asleep  also  in  his  brother's  arms.  All 
then  had  to  be  waked  up,  as  it  was  time  to  go.  For  a 
few  minutes  it  was  pretty  disheartening,  but  M.  soon 
got  back  her  good  humor,  and  J'aime  got  to  laugh- 
ing. The  little  sister  was  hushed ;  and  to  my  great 
surprise,  we  found  ourselves,  our  children  and  our 
bundles,  at  the  Worcester  depot  in  ample  season. 
For  help,  Emmons  was  a  host  in  himself.  His  Father, 
good  as  he  is,  is  not  better.  He  wanted  dreadfully 
to  go  to  Washington,  but  at  the  sleeping  car  we 
separated,  —  he  going  back  to  the  Parker  House  to 
return  to  Andover  yesterday  morning.  The  children 
were  so  wide  awake  and  so  amusing  that  I  actually 
enjoyed  myself  the  first  hour  of  our  night  journey. 
Nor   was    any   of   it   harder    for   me   than   many    a 

[77] 


LETTERS    OF 

night  at  home  has  been  this  summer.  Before  6  we 
were  all  up  and  ready  for  another  start,  and  at  6.15 
we  were  at  the  Hoffman  House.  Here  we  had  a  very 
good  breakfast,  fried  oysters,  omelette,  tea,  coffee 
and  rolls.  Another  vigorous  push,  and  we  were  on 
the  ferry ;  another,  and  we  were  in  the  cars,  fortu- 
nate enough  to  get  a  compartment  to  ourselves.  Of 
course  we  had  a  very  long  and  trying  day  yesterday, 
but  the  children  all  had  naps,  and  though  I  felt 
tempted  to  say  with  the  Bangor  sister,  "  I  will  not 
submit,"  I  kept  on  with  the  cars,  and  at  five  we 
reached  Washington.  We  were  quite  fortunate  in 
regard  to  company  also,  only  a  few  gentlemen  finding 
us  out.  In  the  afternoon  Judge  Kelly  *  brought 
himself  into  the  midst  of  our  squalor,  a  large  and 
very  greasy  parcel  in  his  hand,  inquiring  in  his  mag- 
nificent voice  if  we  were  Pennsylvanians  enough  to 
love  doughnuts.  We  all,  even  to  Mr.  Blaine,  politely 
took  one ;  but  I  was  relieved  to  have  him  out  of  the 
car,  for  I  saw  M.'s  face  in  intense  disgust.  "  O  take 
it,  take  it,"  said  she  in  her  impatience,  "  it 's  no  more 
like  Aunt  Susan's  than, — "  but  words  quite  failed  her. 
He  said  he  had  so  much  lunch  he  had  given  a  great 
deal  to  a  beggar  girl,  but  doughnuts  he  would  not 


1  Judge  William  D.  Kelly,  member  of  Congress  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, familiarly  known  as  "Pig  Iron"  Kelly. 


[78] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

give,  he  had  too  much  respect  for  them.  Good  luck 
to  the  beggar  girl! 

We  found  the  house  in  beautiful  order,  and  at  six 
precisely  were  called  down  to  dinner.  It  was  served, 
of  course,  in  beautiful  order,  Robert  taking  his  stand 
at  the  back  of  Mr.  Blaine's  chair  in  his  old  style. 
Soup,  macaroni,  then  a  splendid  roast  of  beef,  slaw, 
cranberry,  celery,  etc.,  apple  sago  pudding,  oranges 
and  apples,  and  as  good  a  cup  of  tea  as  I  ever  tasted. 
It  seemed  to  me  I  had  never  seen  the  house  look  so 
well.  The  curtains  are  all  up  ;  what  a  thing  that  is  ! 
The  billiard  room  carpet  is  down,  —  very  pretty. 
Martha,  Mary  Wilson,  James  and  Robert  are  here. 
I  expect   another  maid  to-morrow. 

Mr.  Hale  was  in  before  we  were  dressed  this  morn- 
ing. Went  out  to  breakfast  with  us,  and  seemed  in 
every  respect  just  as  he  used  to.     He  got  into  the 

city  on  the  morning  train. 

Monday  evening. 
Try  as  I  would,  dear  Alice,  I  could  not  get  my 
letter  off  last  night.  My  trunks  came  this  morning. 
I  unpacked  enough  to  get  out  my  black  silk,  my  red 
shawl  and  brown  hat ;  then  left  everything  and  went 
to  Mrs.  Creswell's  1  to  lunch,  —  a  most  elegant  affair. 

1  Wife  of  John  A.  J.  Creswell,  Senator  from  Maryland,  Postmaster- 
General  under  Grant,  and  later  counsel  of  Court  of  Alabama  claims, 
of  which  Walker  Blaine  became  assistant  counsel. 

Mr.  Blaine  in  his  "Twenty  Years  of  Congress"  (1884)  says  that  of 

[  79] 


LETTERS    OF 

The  ladies  of  the  Cabinet  there.  Would  vou  like  to 
know  what  we  had?  In  the  first  place,  —  oysters  on 
the  shell,  or  rather,  on  shell  china  plates ;  then  clear 
soup,  then  sweet-breads  and  French  peas,  then  Roman 
punch,  then  chicken  cutlets,  then  birds,  then  chicken 
salad,  ices,  jelly,  charlottes,  candied  preserves,  cake, 
fruit,  candy,  tea,  coffee,  and  four  kinds  of  wines.    Too 

all  cabinets  theretofore,  Franklin  Pierce's  was  the  only  one  that  en- 
dured through  the  administration  unchanged,  the  changes  in  President 
Grant's  cabinet  being  more  numerous  than  in  any  preceding  it.  Its 
members,  twenty-five  in  all,  many  of  whom,  or  whose  wives,  are 
mentioned  in  these  Letters,  included:  Secretaries  of  State:  Elihu  B. 
Washburne,  Hamilton  Fish ;  Treasury :  George  S.  Boutwell,  William 
A.  Richardson,  Benjamin  H.  Bristow,  and  Lot  M.  Morrill;  War: 
John  A.  Rawlins,  William  W.  Belknap,  Alphonso  Taft,  James  Donald 
Cameron;  Navy:  Adolph  E.  Borie  and  George  M.  Robeson;  Post- 
masters-General: John  A.  J.  Creswell,  James  W.  Marshall,  Mar- 
shall Jewell,  James  N.  Tyner;  Attorneys-General:  E.  Rockwood 
Hoar,  Amos  T.  Akerman,  George  H.  Williams,  Edwardes  Pierrepont, 
Alphonso  Taft;  Interior:  Jacob  D.  Cox,  Columbus  Delano, 
Zachariah  Chandler. 

Besides  these  there  were  A.  T.  Stewart,  the  "merchant-prince"  of 
New  York,  who  was  nominated  for  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  but 
never  served;  General  Sherman,  who  was  Secretary  of  War  and 
Interior,  and  Eugene  Hale,  who  was  appointed  Postmaster-General, 
but  did  not  enter  upon  his  service.  President  Grant  was  very  desirous 
of  having  Mr.  Stewart  serve  but  found  after  nominating  him  that 
there  were  legal  disabilities  in  the  way,  the  act  establishing  the  Trea- 
sury Department,  passed  by  the  First  Congress  at  its  first  session, 
having  provided  that  no  person  was  eligible  for  the  office  who  was 
"directly  or  indirectly  concerned  in  the  business  of  trade  or  com- 
merce." The  penalty  for  making  such  an  appointment  included  a 
fine  of  $3000  and  removal  from  office,  and  President  Grant  frankly 
informed  the  Senate  that  he  was  unaware  of  the  restrictions  at  the 
time  of  making  Mr.  Stewart's  appointment. 

[80] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

much  altogether,  jour  Father  thinks,  for  women 
folks. 

On  my  way  I  stopped  at  Mrs.  Forrest's  with  one 
dress.  She  makes  it  this  week.  Invitations  are  pour- 
ing in.  I  have  two  for  Fernando  Wood's,1  two  for 
Lady  Thornton's.  Everything  seems  just  as  it  did 
last  winter.  When  I  saw  the  dress  at  Mrs.  Creswell's 
I  felt  that  I  had  nothing  to  wear,  but  before  I  got 
away  I  discovered  that  Mrs.  Boutwell's  bows  were 
worn  exactly  where  the  Pinkey  sisters  wear  theirs,  also 
that  the  skirt  of  her  black  silk  dress  had  evidently 
felt  the  deadly  pressure  of  an  iron,  and  as  one  touch 
of  human  nature  makes  the  whole  world  kin,  I  felt 
en  rapport  at  once. 

M.  and  J'aime  and  Miss  Sanborn  have  had  their 
first  noon  dinner  to-day.  M.  took  the  walk  and  the 
seat  of  the  scornful ;  but  it  works  well.  Dear  darling 
little  J'aime  is,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  very  much  under 
the  weather.  I  have  a  great  deal  more  to  say,  but 
cannot  take  the  time  to  get  my  letter  off.  You  do 
not  know  how  nice  Martha's  and  Robert's  ways  seem 
to  me.  The  laundress,  Hannah  Grant,  has  been  here 
to-day.  My  other  girl  comes  to-morrow.  Martha 
has  been  cleaning  all  day.  The  Red  Room  and  Mr. 
Sherman's  are  all  in  order.     I  begin  my  receptions 

1  Fernando  Wood,  Democratic  Member  of  Congress  from  New 
York,  and  Mayor  of  New  York  City  during  the  Civil  War. 

vol.  i—6  [  81   ] 


LETTERS    OF 

Wednesday.  Mr.  Blaine  has  one  Friday  evening. 
My  hands  are  full,  but  the  little  sister  behaves  beauti- 
fully. Father  wants  you  to  have  this  letter  put  into 
the  envelope  with  the  Kennebec  Journal  and  sent  to 
Walker.  He  thinks  he  will  be  interested  in  the  chit- 
chat of  it,  and  I  shall  never  write  it  over  again. 

Devotedly, 

Mother. 

My  new  dresses  were  all  at  the  dressmaker's.  The 
reception  was  very  large  and  very  select.  Altogether, 
if  I  had  felt  strong,  I  would  have  enjoyed  it,  but  it 
seems  to  me  I  am  asked  to  fill  immensity  with  my 
presence,  and  I  cannot  do  it. 

To  Walker,  at  Madame  Hedler's  School, 

in  Paris 

Afternoon  of  Tuesday. 

J'aime  is  still  very  sick,  Dear  Walker,  though  the 
doctor  declares  him  better  and  sees  no  danger.  At 
3  I  left  him  and  went  to  the  White  House  to  pay 
my  respects  to  Mrs.  Grant.  Found  the  reception 
crowded,  though  not  so  much  elegant  dressing  as 
sometimes  one  sees.  Coming  home  I  sent  my  card 
in  to  Mrs.  Wood,  wishing  to  inquire  about  a  school 
for  M.  She  kept  me  waiting  a  long  time,  and  then 
was  full  of  apologies  about  her  dress ;  from  which  I 
infer  that  mothers  are  the  same  in  palace  and  hovel. 

[82  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Wednesday  morning. 

I  finish  this  poor  letter,  dear  Walker,  by  the  crib 
of  Que  J'aime.  Dear  little  fellow,  precious  as  the 
apple  of  my  eye,  he  is  very,  very  sick.  Last  night  we 
found  he  was  rapidly  growing  worse.  His  disease, 
which  is  remittent  fever,  has  gone  to  the  brain,  and 
although  by  no  means  hopelessly  sick,  he  is  in  great 
danger.  It  is  four  nights  since  I  have  been  to  bed. 
Up  to  last  night  I  have  taken  care  of  him  alone. 
Last  night  no  one  person  could  have  had  the  care  of 
him.  From  twelve  to  four  he  was  the  sickest  person  I 
ever  saw.  At  four  the  extreme  symptoms  seemed  to 
change,  and  since  then  he  has  been  steadily  improving. 
Dr.  Pope  has  had  the  case,  but  now  Dr.  Verdi  comes 
with  him,  and  will  continue  to  do  so  until  the  case  is 
decided  one  way  or  the  other.  I  think  he  will  get  well, 
but  the  chances  are  very  close. 

We  got  your  letter  this  morning,  also  Aunt 
Caddy's  and  Almet's.  Shall  send  them  east  this 
morning.    Cousin  Abby  came  last  night. 

Good  by,  with  a  heart  full  of  love, 

Mother. 

821  Fifteenth  St.,  Washington,  January  26, 
Friday  morning. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  I  can  hardly  believe  in  my 

good  fortune.     I  have  just  written  a  long  letter  to 

[83] 


LETTERS    OF 

Emmons,  uninterrupted  by  sick  or  well,  and  now  I 
commence  one  to  you.  Upstairs  cousin  Abby  sits 
reading  "  Old  and  New,"  and  Miss  Sanborn  plays  the 
piano.  J'aime  lies  asleep  on  my  bed,  the  little  sister 
in  her  crib.  We  have  depended  mostly  on  milk  for 
J'aime's  nourishment,  and  most  of  it  has  come  from 
Mrs.  Fernando  Wood.  So  much  for  having  neighbors 
in  this  Vanity  Fair  of  a  city.  During  the  worst  of 
his  sickness,  two  were  obliged  to  sit  up  with  J'aime,( 
but  just  as  late  and  just  as  soon  as  possible  I  stayed 
up  alone  with  him.  I  did  this  partly  to  save  the 
strength  of  others,  but  mostly  because  I  could  not 
stay  away  from  him.  My  very  life  seemed  bound  up 
in  that  of  the  child.  He  is  now  really  getting  better, 
but  oh,  the  care  he  is !  Of  course  I  have  as  yet  had 
neither  part  nor  lot  in  the  gaieties  of  Washington. 
Last  night  I  persuaded  your  Father  to  go  into 
Mrs.  Wood's,  as  this  was  our  second  invitation. 
Accordingly  he  and  Cousin  Abby  went.  They  were 
at  home  soon  after  twelve,  but  had  had  an  agree- 
able time.  To-night  we  were  to  have  a  reception,  but 
I  did  not  dare  have  the  noise  in  the  house.  Next 
week  I  am  engaged  for  two  dinners,  one  Senator 
Chandler's.1 

We  shall  probably  ourselves  give  a  dinner  Friday. 
I  have  a  party  dress  ready  —  blue  silk  trimmed  very 

1  Zachariah  Chandler,  Senator  from  Michigan  from  1857  to  1875. 

[84] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

freely  with  duchesse  lace,  low  neck  and  short  sleeves. 
This  afternoon  I  have  been  to  leave  directions  about 
another  —  pearl  color  to  be  trimmed  with  pink  silk 
and  black  lace.  I  shall  ring  the  changes  on  these  two 
during  the  season.  I  feel  remarkably  well  dressed, 
but  most  of  my  dresses  are  old  ones,  revamped.  We 
have  a  new  waiter  this  winter,  called  Solomon  Doug- 
las. We  call  him  by  the  last  name,  though  if  I  could 
only  joke,  I  should  certainly  say  something  about 
Solemn  Douglas,  for  his  manners  are  truly  sepulchral. 
He  has  deep  thoughts  on  the  dignity  of  his  office  — 
always  speaks  of  me  as  "  The  Madam,"  and  while 
very  fond  of  her,  will  permit  no  unsanctioned  indul- 
gence to  M.  She  beats  herself  out  against  the  rock 
of  his  dignity  in  vain. 

Mrs.  Hale  comes  in  to  see  me  quite  often.  She 
wants  to  be  received  just  as  her  husband  is.  I  like 
her  very  much  indeed,  think  her  a  noble  girl. 

Monday  morning. 

J'aime  still  improving.  We  are  through  with 
breakfast,  and  he  is  dressed,  though  he  does  not  sit 
alone.  M.  is  playing  about  the  room  with  Alice 
Wood,  too  happy  for  anything  because  she  has  a 
play-fellow.  Cousin  Abby  is  reading  the  newspapers. 
I  went  out  last  night  to  the  Congregationalist  tem- 
perance meeting.     Heard  a  nice  little  story  told  of 

[85] 


LETTERS    OF 

Speaker  Blaine.  His  strong  point  seems  to  be  his 
deadly  opposition  to  tobacco.  I  was  immensely 
amused,  as  it  was  only  Saturday  afternoon  when  Dr. 
Rankin  was  in  at  our  house,  and  this  nice  little  talk 
was  detailed  the  very  next  evening. 

I  have  three  dinners  in  view  to  give,  —  one  to  Mr. 
Hale  next  Thursday,  to  the  President,  Monday,  to 
the  Ewing  family  Thursday.  A  number  of  the  Ohio 
Ewings  are  spending  the  winter  with  Mrs.  Sherman, 
all  in  black  —  so  they  do  not  visit  in  public. 

Good-by, 

Devotedly, 

Mother. 


821  Fifteenth  St.    Sunday  evening, 

February  11,  1872. 

I  got  no  farther,  dear  Walker,  last  night.  Your 
Father  came  upstairs  and  got  to  worrying  about 
J'aime,  who  was  very  hot,  and  so  of  course  I  felt  no 
more  like  writing.  The  little  fellow  has  been  very 
feverish  all  night,  but  is  up  and  dressed  now,  feeling 
as  well  as  he  has  done.  He  has  a  lingering,  more 
properly,  a  halting  convalescence.  He  is  very  deaf 
indeed ;  does  not  hear  one  word  unless  it  is  addressed 
directly  and  with  effort  to  him,  but  we  expect  that 
this  is  only  temporary. 

[86] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

As  I  was  saying  last  night,  Mr  and  Mrs  Hale  were 
here  to  tea.  She  looked  very  pretty  indeed.  To-day 
we  have  many  gentlemen  to  dinner.  I  am  not  to  be 
present  —  a  vast  relief  to  me.  A  new  man  whom 
Frank  Leslie  *  has  imported  from  England  to  outdo 
Nast,  Mr.  Summer,2  and  others.  Friday  we  have  the 
President  and  Mrs.  Grant.  Round  table  at  both 
dinners.  Lent  will,  you  know,  begin  Wednesday,  so 
of  course  everything  for  the  week  past  has  gone  with 
a  double  and  treble  rush.  Every  available  day-time 
moment  I  have  been  out  making  calls.     Tuesday  even- 

1  Frank  Leslie,  editor  and  proprietor  of  "Frank  Leslie's  Illustrated 
Newspaper,"  a  species  of  journal  in  the  founding  of  which  P.  T. 
Barnum  was  the  pioneer.  Mr.  Leslie  was  the  original  importer  of 
Tom  Nast,  the  famous  caricaturist,  a  native  of  Bohemia,  who  resigned 
to  go  abroad  and  make  war  sketches  with  Garibaldi's  army  in  Italy, 
and  on  his  return  to  America  began  his  cartoons  in  Harper's  Weekly. 

2  Senator  Charles  Sumner  of  Massachusetts,  then  fifty-nine  years 
of  age.  In  the  year  previous  Mr.  Sumner  had  been  removed  from  his 
position  as  chairman  of  the  Foreign  Relations  Committee  of  the 
Senate  on  account  of  political  difficulties  with  President  Grant's 
administration,  growing  out  of  his  opposition  to  the  treaty  to  annex 
San  Domingo.  The  removal  was  characterized  by  Mr.  Blaine  in  his 
"Twenty  Years  in  Congress"  as  comparable  only  with  the  earlier  and 
physical  assault  made  on  Mr.  Sumner  in  1856  in  the  Senate  Chamber 
by  Representative  Preston  S.  Banks,  a  nephew  of  Senator  Butler. 
On  the  day  following  the  dinner  mentioned  in  the  Letters,  Mr.  Sumner 
introduced  resolutions  in  the  Senate  to  investigate  the  suspected  sale 
of  government  ordnance  and  arms  during  the  Franco-Prussian  War, 
an  investigation  which,  commonly  known  as  the  French  Arms  Affair, 
excited  the  widest  public  mterest  at  the  time.  Mr.  Sumner  died  in 
1874  at  Washington,  where  his  body  lay  in  state  at  the  Capitol  before 
being  buried  in  Mt.  Auburn  Cemetery  at  Cambridge,  Mass. 

[87] 


LETTERS    OF 

ing  I  dined  at  Secretary  Delano's  ; 1  wore  blue  silk  ;  — ■ 
twenty-two  at  dinner.  Went  out  to  table  with  Sen- 
ator Windom,2  but  was  then  separated  from  him  and 
was  left  to  the  tender  mercies  of  Governor  Cooke.3 
Had  a  pleasant  time ;  Cousin  Abby,  who  sat  at  table 
with  General  Bristow,4  a  brilliant  one ;  so  also  did 
your  Father.  Got  home  at  11.  The  next  day  I  had 
a  reception,  largely  attended  ;  Gen.  Sickles  5  and  wife, 
and  Gen.  Sheridan,  here,  among  others.  Thursday 
just  after  dinner  my  other  new  silk  came  home,  so 
your  Father  insisted  upon  my  going  out  with  him. 
Accordingly,  at  10  behold  me  starting  for  Lady 
Thornton's.  Here  we  had  a  very  delightful  time ;  the 
people  all  very  elegantly  dressed,  and  a  chosen  com- 
pany. About  12  we  went  to  Mrs.  Rathbone's.6  This 
party  was  as  brilliant  as  a  party  could  be,  house, 
people,  supper,  lights,  everything  of  the  best.  At 
Lady  Thornton's  I  was  taken  out  to  supper  by  Gen- 


1  Columbus   Delano  of  Ohio,   Secretary  of  the  Interior  under 
President  Grant. 

2  William   Windom,  Senator  from  Minnesota,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  under  President  Garfield,  and  again  under  Harrison. 

3  Henry  D.  Cooke,  brother  of  Jay  Cooke,  and  Governor  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  1873. 

4  Benjamin  H.  Bristow,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under  President 
Grant. 

5  Gen.  Daniel  E.  Sickles,  New  York;   then  Minister  to  Spain. 

0  Wife  of  Major  Henry  Rathbone,  U.  S.  A.,  who  was  with  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  at  the  time  of  his  assassination. 


[88] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

eral  Banks,1  home  by  Gen.  Burke,2  and  got  to  bed  at 
two.  Found  the  children  all  very  comfortable  on  my 
return,  as  they  had  been  during  my  absence.  These 
were  my  first  parties  for  the  winter. 

821  Fifteenth  St.,  Sunday  afternoon,  Feb.  18,  1872. 
My  dear  Walker,  —  Lunch  is  just  over,  and 
after  in  vain  trying  to  get  J'aime,  who  is  having  a 
fractious  day,  into  good  humor,  I  have  abandoned 
him  to  his  fate,  meaning  the  tender  mercies  of  his 
Father,  Miss  Sanborn,  Cousin  Abby,  M.,  Annie  and 
Martha.  Here  the  door  bell  rings.  Douglas  answers 
it.  Some  one  to  see  the  Speaker.  Douglas  distantly 
answers  that  indeed  he  does  not  know  whether  Mr. 
Blaine  is  home  or  not.  If  the  gentleman  will  walk 
into  the  parlor  he  will  see.  Enter  gentleman,  and 
upstairs  Douglas.  Returning,  he  announces  that 
Mr.  Blaine  has  gone  up  to  see  Mr.  Sherman,  a  fib 
with  a  circumstance ;  and  Douglas  coming  through 
the  library  where  Mr.  Sherman  and  I  are  writing, 
says  he  shall  never  get  to  heaven  in  this  world,  and 

1  Gen.  N.  P.  Banks,  of  Massachusetts,  Member  of  Congress  and 
ex- Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

2  Dennis  Francis  Burke,  who  enlisted  for  the  Civil  War  with  the 
69th  Regiment  of  New  York.  He  was  a  native  of  Ireland  and  on  a 
visit  to  Dublin  in  1866  was  arrested  for  a  Fenian  and  confined  for 
seven  months  in  Mount  joy  prison.  On  his  return  to  the  United  States 
he  became  assistant  appraiser  of  the  New  York  Custom  House  and 
held  the  position  till  his  death  in  1893. 

[89] 


LETTERS    OF 

vanishes  looking  exceedingly  pleased,  for  him,  at  the 
prospect.  Whereupon  Mr.  Sherman  says  to  me  in 
an  aside  that  he  does  not  see  what  his  idea  of  heaven 
in  this  world  can  be. 

Friday  we  had  our  Presidential  dinner.  Oh,  how 
glad  I  am  to  have  it  over !  Father  wanted  to  defer 
it  until  Emmons  came,  but  I  could  not  let  it  over- 
hang so  long.  The  President  is  so  heavy  in  every- 
thing but  feeding,  —  thnre  he  is  very  light.  He 
talked  incessantly  about  himself.  I  have  a  certain 
sympathy  with  him,  for  I  think  him  an  honest  man, 
and  indeed  he  feels  dreadfully  assailed.  Sir  Edward  * 
sat  on  my  other  hand.  After  dinner  was  over  and  the 
guests  had  departed,  Father,  Miss  Dodge,  and  my- 
self went  to  the  Wellington  to  attend  the  reception  of 
the  Japanese  Minister.  I  went  out  to  supper  with 
the  Minister  himself,  a  lively  little  Japanese,  rather 
taller  than  the  average  of  his  countrymen,  speaking 
English  perfectly  well.  The  Japs  seemed  to  be  per- 
fectly delighted  at  seeing  so  many  ladies.  Mrs. 
Schurz 2  said  when  she  left,  Monsieur  Mori 3  was 
standing  motionless,  his  arm  tight  around  a  young 

1  Sir  Edward  Thornton,  British  Minister  to  the  United  States. 

2  Wife  of  Senator  Carl  Schurz  of  Missouri. 

3  An  embassy  from  Japan  under  Mr.  Iwakuri  came  to  the  United 
States  at  this  time  to  study  with  the  Japanese  Minister,  Arinori  Mori, 
the  republican  institutions  of  America.  The  members  were  extensively 
entertained  in  Washington. 

[90] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

lady's  waist.  Imagine  it !  In  the  morning  I  was  at  the 
Capitol ;  heard  Mr.  Beck  1  reply  to  Mr.  Brownlow, — 
a  personal  explanation,  mostly  in  bad,  bad  taste ; 
interesting  to  me  because  of  the  perfectly  impartial 
ruling  of  }^our  Father,  though  to  do  it  he  had  to 
decide  against  Mr.  Stephenson,2  Mr.  Hale,  and  Mr. 
Garfield.  Thursday,  Gen.  Thomas  Ewing  and  sev- 
eral other  gentlemen  were  here  to  dinner,  —  a  pleas- 
ant time.  Wednesday  I  had  no  reception.  It  was 
Ash  Wednesday,  also  Valentine's  Day. 

Tuesday  we  were  invited  to  a  great  many  places, 
but  did  not  go  out  at  all.  The  day  was  very  bad, 
and  we  were  in  the  evening  too  tired  for  anything. 
The  day  before  —  Monday  —  which  carries  me  back 
to  my  last  letter,  we  had  had  a  large  dinner  party  — 
a  most  successful  dinner.  Charles  Sumner  was  here, 
Mr.    Hendricks,3    a    good   many    newspaper    men  — 

1  James  Burnie  Beck,  Senator  from  Kentucky,  1877-90;  at  this 
time  Member  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  William  G.  Brownlow, 
Governor  of  Tennessee  during  the  reconstruction  period,  and  later 
United  States  Senator.  Mr.  Brownlow's  loyalty  to  the  national  cause 
during  the  ante-bellum  years  cost  him  separation  from  his  family,  loss 
of  property,  imprisonment  and  finally  banishment  from  the  Con- 
federacy. In  earlier  years  he  was  a  Methodist  preacher  and  long  bore 
the  nickname  of  Parson  Brownlow.  His  editorship  of  the  KnoxvilJe 
Whig,  printed  in  the  mountains  of  Tennessee,  anti-Jackson  and 
pro-Clay,  was  vigorous  enough  to  give  it  wide  influence. 

2  Representative  Isaac  Stephenson,  of  Wisconsin,  Mr.  Hale  of 
Maine,  and  General  (afterwards  President)  James  A.  Garfield. 

3  Afterwards  Vice-President  Hendricks,  but  then  out  of  office,  and 
visiting  in  Washington,  his  term  in  the  Senate  having  expired  in  1809. 

[91] 


LETTERS    OF 

Frank  Leslie  people,  and  so  on.  Miss  Dodge  dined 
last  night  at  the  Chandlers',  and  was  taken  out  to 
dinner  by  Gen.  Sheridan.  She  had  a  most  delightful 
time.  To-morrow  we  have  all  the  Ewings  to  dinner, 
and  Tuesday  we  have  tickets  for  Sothern.  I  shall 
think  of  you  as  I  listen  to  Dundreary. 

We  get  down  to  breakfast  soon  after  nine.  Father 
sits  down  in  his  seat,  and  at  once  proceeds  to  bury 
himself  in  the  newspapers.  Douglas  the  slow  gradu- 
ally works  around  among  the  mutton  chops,  the  grits, 
the  butter,  the  apples,  the  ham  and  the  drinkables, 
and  by  the  time  everything  is  as  cold  as  a  stone, 
eating  begins.  Father  does  not  even  offer  the  steak. 
As  we  take  the  morning  papers,  and  the  mail  is 
always  large,  you  can  imagine  how  social  we  are. 
I  dare  not  abandon  the  children ;  so  while  Cousin 
Abby  and  the  Pater  satisfy  the  hungry  minds,  I  look 
out  for  the  hungry  little  folks,  and  when  I  and  they 
are  through  the  readers  wake  up  and  are  ready  to 
be  waited  on.  Just  as  we  were  getting  through  this 
morning,  somebody  or  other  remembered  our  dinner 
party  of  to-day,  and  then  it  was  discovered  that  no 
orders  had  been  given  for  the  dinner  —  the  bill  of 
fare  not  even  made  out !  Such  an  explosion  as  then 
followed!  However,  everything  is  all  straightened 
out  now.  But  Father  wants  this  letter  to  send.  I 
have  no  time  to  see  what  I  have  said  —  it  is  full  of 

[92] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

love,   be    sure   of   that.      Only    one    thing  —  I    have 

written  and  written  to  Emmons  letters  which  were 

to  go  to  you,  but  he  fails  to  send  them.     This  is 

why  you  are  sometimes  so  long  without  hearing. 

Good-by,  —  lovingly, 

Mother. 

(Fragment) 

We  have  seen  by  the  papers  that  Mr.  Washburne 
is  coming  home,  but  the  latest  intelligence  seems  to 
be  that  he  is  not.  We  should  have  tried  to  have  him 
make  this  his  home. 

To  go  on  with  my  narration,  Friday  evening  we 
had  ourselves  an  elegant  reception.  I  shall  exhaust 
the  vocabulary  of  adjectives.  For  a  wonder,  I  really 
enjoyed  myself.  This  is  only  our  second  reception, 
yet  it  is  the  last.  The  first  winter  I  had  seven.  Sat- 
urday afternoon  we  were  all  to  go  to  Mrs.  Swayne's 
matinee.  She  is  to  be  married  next  Thursday,  start- 
ing for  Europe  Saturday.  Your  Father  and  Cousin 
Abby  went  at  five,  he  coming  back  to  dine  at  Welcker's 
at  six.  At  seven  I  dressed  and  went,  and  about  nine 
Cousin  Abby  and  I  came  home  —  a  very  pleasant 
time. 

Yesterday  all  of  us  out  at  church.  And  now  you 
have  a  very  bald,  but  a  faithful  account  of  the  fes- 
tivities of  this  week.     I  have  written  this  much  under 

[93] 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

all  sorts  of  difficulties :  baby  not  dressed,  M.  hug- 
ging, J'aime  crying  for  me,  Father  giving  all  sorts 
of  orders  about  flowers  and  getting  very  wroth  at 
the  stupidity  of  others ;  Mr.  Sherman  doing  fifty 
things  at  once.  A  call  from  Mr  Hale,  who  has  come 
to  ask  Cousin  Abby  to  fill  a  vacancy  at  their  table. 

My  dear,  dear  boy,  good-by.  I  intended  writing 
a  longer  and  better  letter,  but  I  could  never  write 
one  with  more  love. 

Devotedly, 

Mother. 

821  Fifteenth  st.,  Washington,  March  3,  1872. 
Saturday  afternoon. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  It  is  curious  to  watch  a  Lent 
evolve  itself  in  Washington.  Everything  in  the  sea- 
son is  hurried,  piled  up  three  deep  —  Lent  comes  so 
early  this  year,  and  with  Lent  everything  ceases. 
Observe  now  my  arrangements  already  entered  into 
for  the  coming  week,  and  from  one  week,  learn  all. 
This  is  Sunday.  To-night  there  comes  for  tea  Mrs 
Shepherd  Pike,  very  likely  others.  Previously  I  go 
with  Father  to  Capitol  Hill  to  make  a  few  visits.  To- 
morrow at  twelve  I  go  to  the  White  House  to  assist 
in  the  formal  reception  to  the  Japanese.  Mrs.  Fish 
has  been  in  twice  about  it  to-day  already,  Mr.  Fish  * 

1  Hamilton  Fish,  Secretary  of  State  under  Grant. 

[94] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

once.  The  most  punctilious  arrangements  are  made 
for  the  ceremony.  As  this  is  the  first  ambassador 
this  country  has  ever  received,  it  behooves  us  to  be 
particular.  Your  Father  puts  some  one  in  the  chair, 
and  then  hastens  down  himself  to  assist  in  the  cere- 
monies. All  the  ladies  are  in  full  dress,  morning 
costume,  no  bonnets.  In  the  evening  I  go  to  the 
opera  to  hear  Parepa  in  Figaro.  Tuesday  evening 
I  go  to  the  Masonic  Temple  to  assist  in  another  re- 
ception to  the  Japs.  Mrs.  Fish,  wife  of  the  Secretary 
of  State ;  Mrs.  Colfax,  wife  of  the  President  of  the 
Senate;  Mrs.  Blaine,  wife  of  the  Speaker  of  the 
House,  and  Mrs.  Banks,  wife  of  the  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  —  are  the  ladies 
to  receive.  Wednesday  I  have  a  reception,  and  in 
the  evening  go  to  the  opera  again  to  hear  Parepa. 
Thursday  we  are  engaged  at  the  Bristows,  and  Sat- 
urday afternoon  Father  takes  M.  and  Miss  San- 
born to  the  matinee.  I  am  so  sorry  for  Emmons  that 
his  vacation  does  not  commence  this  week. 

Thursday  afternoon. 

I  am  just  up  from  down  town,  where  I  have  been 
buying  a  little  frippery  for  to-night.  I  went  to  the 
White  House  yesterday  as  I  anticipated.  All  the 
ladies  save  myself  were  in  high  necks  and  long  sleeves ; 
I  just  the  reverse,  but  I  covered  my  neck  with  a 

[85] 


LETTERS    OF 

handsome  cape,  and  was  very  much  complimented 
on  my  appearance.  The  ceremonies  were  all  gone 
through  with  according  to  programme.  The  Presi- 
dent and  Cabinet  and  a  few  officers  received  the  chief 
of  the  Japanese  dignitaries,  and  then  they  were 
brought  into  the  Blue  Room  and  presented  to  Mrs. 
Grant  and  her  ladies.  Mrs.  Grant  had  Mrs.  Colfax 
on  her  right,  myself  on  the  left.  I  was  quite  un- 
prepared for  the  womanliness  cordiality  and  thor- 
oughly unaffected  kindliness  of  Mrs.  Grant's  recep- 
tion of  these  semi-heathen.  I  could  not  have  done 
half  so  well.  Fortunately  I  knew  Mr.  Mori,  so  that 
I  could  break  the  dread  spell  a  little.  Another  thing 
also  helped  me  personally  very  much.  The  chief 
interpreter  turned  out  to  be  a  }^oung  Mr.  Rice,  son 
of  Elisha,  and  nephew  of  Judge  Rice.  He  went 
from  Augusta  to  Japan  at  the  age  of  ten.  Of  course 
he  got  introduced  to  me  and  we  had  a  great  deal  to 
talk  about,  to  the  evident  admiration  of  our  Asiatic 
friends,  who  looked  on  with  longing  eyes.  In  the 
evening  Cousin  Abby,  Miss  Sanborn  and  myself  took 
a  carriage  and  went  to  Parepa's  opera.  The  sing- 
ing and  acting  were  superb.  I  am  sorry  to  say  the 
house  was  poorly  filled,  —  not  over  twenty  in  the 
audience  that  I  knew,  and  by  this  time  I  know  pretty 
much  everybody  of  note.  The  night  was  horribly 
cold,  and  we  were  glad  enough  that  I  had  had  the  ex- 

[96] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

travagance  of  a  carriage.  Father  opened  the  door 
to  us  at  our  first  summons.  The  poor  man  had  lost 
Parepa  and  had  nothing  to  compensate.  Over  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  guests  sat  down  to  Mr. 
Brooks'  dinner  in  a  room  built  over  a  stable  —  Mr. 
Robeson  seated  between  two  Japanese  dignitaries, 
neither  of  whom,  of  course,  could  speak  one  English 
word.  The  dinner,  Father  said,  seemed  to  be  served 
by  the  acre,  and  after  standing  it  as  long  as  he  could, 
he  concluded  to  slip  out.  As  soon  as  they  saw  your 
Father  start,  Mr.  Voorhees  2  and  Mr.  Beck  also  arose, 
and  I  should  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  quite  a 
stampede  then  commenced,  but  afraid  of  the  conse- 
quences, our  Father  beat  a  hasty  retreat  home. 

I  ought  to  tell  you  a  great  deal  about  last  week, 
because  I  did  not  write  you  after  Monday,  but  it 
all  seems  to  have  faded  out  of  my  recollection.  Fri- 
day evening  I  had  a  large  dinner  party ;  but  as  it 
was  mainly  odds  and  ends,  I  mean  looking  up  people 
to  whom  I  owed  a  dinner,  I  was,  with  a  few  excep- 
tions, indifferent  to  the  people.  I  went  out  to  dinner 
with  Judge  Swayne,2  and  had  myself  a  very  nice  time, 
Judge  Swayne  being  always  agreeable  to  me.     The 


1  Representative,  later  Senator,  Daniel  W.  Voorhees  of  Indiana. 

2  Noah  Swayne,  of  Ohio,  appointed  Associate  Justice  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  by  President  Lincoln ;  father  of  General  Wager 
Swayne  of  New  York. 

vol.  i—7  [   97  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

dinner  itself  was  perfectly  delicious,  but  the  flowers 
were  not  so  pretty  as  usual. 

Wednesday,  10  o'clock. 
I  am  sorry,  dear  Walker,  to  have,  after  all,  to 
conclude  my  letter  in  a  hurry.  I  assisted  in  the  re- 
ception last  night  —  Mrs.  Colfax,  I,  Mrs.  Fish  and 
Mrs.  Banks.  When  supper  was  announced  Iwakuri 
went  first,  having  on  his  right  arm  Mrs.  Colfax,  the 
Vice-President  on  his  left ;  then  came  Mr.  Mori, 
Mrs.  Fish,  and  your  father  on  the  other  arm.  Then 
the  second  Ambassador,  I  on  his  right  arm,  Secretary 
Fish  on  his  left.  Who  came  after  I  know  not,  every 
faculty  of  mine  being  absorbed  in  analyzing  my  feel- 
ings. So  curious !  Not  one  word  could  my  poor 
Asiatic  understand  of  my  language,  and  Mr.  Fish 
having  the  whole  Diplomatic  Corps  to  keep  straight, 
was  continually  looking  around  and  calling  out  to 
some  greater  or  less  dignitary  to  fall  into  line.  When 
we  had  marched  back  from  the  supper  room  into  the 
hall  all  our  formal  duties  were  over.  We  got  home 
about  twelve.  This  morning  have  been  up  to  the 
House  to  see  them  received  by  your  Father.  Immense 
crowd  there. 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington,  March  12th,  '72 
My  dear  Walker,  —  Please  date  your  letters  more 
accurately.     Your  Pater  blows  a  blast  which  might 

[98] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

reach  across  the  Atlantic  when  he  sees  one  of  your 
missives  commencing  with  a  Friday  morning  or  a 
Tuesday  or  a  Monday,  and  so  on.  We  heard  from 
you  Sunday  morning,  and  I  yesterday  sent  the  letter 
to  Augusta.  Emmons  was  coming  away  from  An- 
dover,  so  I  did  not  detain  it  for  him.  It  will  be  hap- 
piness enough  for  him  to  be  with  us.  I  have  the  good 
dinner  he  writes  for  all  ordered,  but  about  an  hour 
ago  came  a  telegram  from  New  York  saying  that  he 
had  lost  the  connection  and  could  not  be  here  till  ten. 

This  week  is  jogging  along  very  quietly,  a  great 
contrast  to  last.  I  am  trying  to  get  calls  paid  up, 
though  the  dreadful  weather  sadly  interferes.  Such 
a  spring!  It  snows  all  the  latter  part  of  the  day, 
melts  in  the  forenoon,  thaws  in  the  afternoon. 

Friday  evening,  being  already  as  tired  as  I  could 
be,  I  went  with  your  father  to  a  Maine  sociable. 
Ever  since  we  have  been  in  Washington  there  has 
been  a  hearsay  about  our  going  to  a  Maine  sociable, 
so  Friday  evening  with  the  inevitable  snow  storm  for 
our  accompaniment,  behold  us  starting  forth. 

Tuesday  evening. 

I  had  just  got  so  far,  dear  Walker,  when  Mrs. 

Hale    came   in    to    make    a    little   friendly   call.      As 

Eugene  is  in  New  Hampshire  stumping,  she  is  very 

lonely,  so  I  had  her  come  in  and  succeeded  so  well 

[  09] 


LETTERS    OF 

in  entertaining  her  that  she  did  not  go  till  it  was 
time  for  Cousin  Abby  to  go  to  Miss  Ripley's ; 1  with 
whom  we  were  to  take  lunch.  We  had  a  very  nice 
little  table  all  to  ourselves,  and  at  three  came  away. 
Sent  Robert  to  the  Arlington  for  a  carriage,  and  at 
once  went  out  calling  with  Cousin  A.  Took  Miss 
Sanborn  and  the  darling  J'aime  along  for  a  ride.  As 
M.  was  making  a  call  on  Alice  Wood,  we  had  no 
trouble  with  her.  Called  every  moment  till  dinner 
time,  came  home,  ate  dinner,  and  here  I  am.  I  dis- 
miss the  Maine  sociable  as  I  see  that  was  the  topic 
I  was  on  when  interrupted,  —  with  one  word.  Your 
Father  and  I  stood  around  a  few  moments  warming 
us  at  the  stove,  school  fashion,  not  seeing  one  person 
we  knew.  Finally  about  half  a  dozen  left  their  places 
in  the  dance  and  came  up  to  see  us,  and  all  the  others 
being  strangers,  we  soon  felt  at  liberty  to  come  away. 
So  much  for  a  Maine  sociable.  Thursday  evening 
we  were  at  Mrs.  Bristed's  2  at  a  ten  o'clock  supper. 
Only  twelve  at  table,  including  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robe- 
son.3   Mrs.  R.  is  a  woman  of  undoubted  talent.     She 

1  Elizabeth  Ripley,  niece  of  Senator  Buckingham  of  Connecticut 
and  Mrs.  Blaine's  next  door  neighbor  in  Washington. 

3  Wife  of  Charles  Astor  Bristed,  the  author,  grandson  of  John 
Jacob  Astor. 

3  George  Maxwell  Robeson  of  New  Jersey,  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
from  1869  to  1877.  He  was  married  in  January,  1872,  to  Mary 
Isabella  (Ogston)  Aulich,  a  widow.  Mr.  Robeson  was  also  Acting 
Secretary  of  War  for  a  time  on  the  resignation  of  William  W.  Belknap. 

[  ioo  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

is  extremely  entertaining.  At  twelve  and  a  half  we 
came  away.  I  went  out  to  supper  with  Mr.  Robeson. 
Father  took  out  Mrs.  Bristed;  Senator  Bayard,1 
Cousin  Abby.  Two  of  the  others  were  foreigners.  I 
felt  very  dull,  but  believe  the  others  had  a  good  time. 
Wednesday  afternoon  I  had  a  reception,  and  that 
same  evening  heard  Parepa 2  in  "  Bohemian  Girl." 
Got  along  very  well  till  the  third  part,  when  I  could 
have  fallen  headlong,  I  was  so  sleepy.  Saturday, 
Father,  Cousin  A.  and  your  sister  M.  went  to  a 
matinee.  Your  Pater  came  home  as  slangy  as  Win- 
throp  Fish,  saying  and  re-saying,  "  It 's  a  fraud." 
Every  part  was  shorn  and  clipped,  and  the  voice  of 
the  prompter  was  audible  enough  to  mar  all  the 
effect.  At  six  he,  Father,  dined  with  the  territorial 
delegates,  and  at  eight  I,  thoroughly  worn  out,  be- 
took myself  to  bed.  Sunday  I  was  not  out  for  the 
day,  the  walking  I  thought  too  bad. 

His  conduct  of  the  Navy  Department  was  "investigated  "  by  Congress 
but  the  House  Judiciary  Committee  failed  to  sustain  any  charges 
against  him. 

1  Thomas  F.  Bayard  of  Delaware,  then  United  States  Senator, 
later  Secretary  of  State  in  President  Cleveland's  first  term  and  first 
Ambassador  to  Great  Britain. 

2  This  was  Parepa  Rosa's  third  and  last  visit  to  America,  her 
death  occurring  in  London  in  1874.  During  her  second  visit  she 
married  Carl  Rosa,  her  second  husband,  in  1867  and  remained  in  this 
country  four  years,  attaining  great  popularity.  She  was  born  in 
Edinburgh  in  1826  of  a  Scotch  mother  and  a  Wallachian  father. 
Parepa's  full  name  was  Euphrosyne  Parepa  de  Boyesku  Rosa. 

[101] 


LETTERS    OF 

Yesterday  I  made  calls,  the  inevitable  snow  accom- 
pan}ring  me  in  all  my  visits.     In  the  evening  we  all 

went  to  the  billiard  room  for  amusement.  Cousin  A. 
and  Father  played,  and  such  wild  strokes  never  were 
seen  before.  I  waited  until  each  had  pushed  along 
six  counters,  when  I  descended  to  the  library  to  read 
Oliver  Twist.  I  believe  I  wrote  you  that  the  billiard 
room  has  been  carpeted,  so  we  have  done  nothing  else 
in  the  way  of  furnishing. 

Wednesday  morning. 
Emmons  got  here  at  ten  and  a  half  last  evening. 
He  missed  the  train  yesterday  morning  simply  be- 
cause he  had  not  been  particular  about  the  time  table. 
Rather  green  in  him,  your  Father  thinks.  I  need 
not  say  that  we  have  all  been  alive  this  morning. 
Your  big  brother  first  went  all  over  the  house  in 
his  night  gown ;  next  he  put  on  his  coat  and  trousers 
over  his  night  shirt  and  again  perambulated,  and 
lastly  he  dressed  himself  en  regie  and  came  down  to 
breakfast.  All  we  wanted  was  to  have  you  here. 
Mary  Wilson  got  every  dish  for  Emmons  she  could 
think  of,  and  to  one  and  all  he  did  full  justice.  I 
was  in  hopes  I  should  have  an  Augusta  letter  to  send 
along  with  this,  but  there  has  been  a  large  mail 
burned  at  Springfield  and  I  have  no  doubt  my  letter 
has  gone  that  way.  I  am  going  to  have  a  reception 
to-day.    One  and  all  send  love.    Oceans  from  mother. 

[  102  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

I  cannot  bear  to  send  this  paper  blank,  so  I  will 
at  the  risk  of  repetition  say  that  your  Father  dines 
with  the  Japs  at  the  White  House  this  evening  and 
that  I  go  at  nine  to  receive  with  Mrs.  Grant.  I  have 
offered  to  take  Emmons,  but  he  will  have  none  of  it. 
Also  we  have  Saturday  evening  a  large  party  of 
gentlemen,  over  one  hundred,  mostly  members  of  the 
House.  As  I  shall  only  receive,  I  do  not  dread  it 
much.  After  Mons  had  had  his  supper,  he  and  your 
Father  went  up  for  a  game  of  billiards.  Of  course 
Mons  distanced  his  partner  a  long  ways.  There  is 
a  great  excitement  over  the  ousting  of  the  Erie  ring,1 
but  all  this  I  trust  to  the  papers  to  inform  you  of. 
Your  Father  seems  very  much  opposed  to  your  leav- 
ing Paris.  He  is  anxious  for  you  to  be  sure  of 
French,  at  the  same  time  he  likes  to  have  you  do 
everything  you  want  to.  If  you  would  like  to,  he 
would  prefer  your  staying  another  year  in  Europe, 
but  I  do  not  think  I  could  give  my  consent.  At  any 
rate,  I  should  come  over  with  Emmons  and  travel  for 

the  summer. 

Good-bye,  devotedly, 

Mothee. 

1  See  Mr.  Charles  F.  Adams'  and  Mr.  Henry  Adams'  very  inter- 
esting account  of  the*  struggle  between  Jay  Gould,  Commodore  Van- 
derbilt,  and  other  interested  parties  for  control  of  the  Erie  Railroad. 
(Chapters  of  Erie  and  Other  Essays.) 

[  103] 


LETTERS    OF 


821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington,  March  18th, 

Monday  morning. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  Another  letter  from  you, 
and  no  date  beyond  the  unsatisfactory  one  of  Fri- 
day. Just  think  how  your  Father  must  have  talked. 
Anything  but  greenness  in  my  children,  might  almost 
be  his  motto ;  and  here  comes  Emmons  from  Andover 
without  consulting  the  New  York  time  tables,  con- 
sequently he  loses  his  connection  and  in  consequence 
thereof  his  dinner  at  home,  and  his  bag  which  he 
had  left  in  the  rack,  and  before  we  have  recovered 
our  breath,  comes  another  letter  from  you  which  is 
to  be  kept  for  a  journal,  and  yet  no  date. 

Emmons  is  having  a  very  quiet  but  satisfactory 
vacation.  He  manages  just  to  get  up  at  nine,  comes 
down  in  his  Father's  slippers,  eats  a  breakfast  com- 
posed of  his  favorite  dishes,  stands  up  at  the  last. 
Is  always  to  be  found,  when  the  others  go  up  stairs, 
in  the  billiard  room.  About  eleven  he  comes  down, 
puts  a  few  finishing  touches  to  his  dress,  and  goes 
off  to  the  Capitol.  Lunches  there,  and  is  at  home 
any  time  in  the  latter  part  of  the  day.  Some  even- 
ings he  goes  to  the  theatre,  often  he  is  at  home. 
Last  night  (Sunday)  we  all  went  in  to  see  the  Hales. 
Coming  home  we  called  at  Governor  Buckingham's, 

[  104  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    ELAINE 

where  we  had  an  old  fashioned  Yankee  visit.  To- 
night Miss  Ripley  dined  here,  also  Mr  and  Mrs 
Merrill,  Mrs  Anns,  George  F.  Townsend  and  wife 
and  George  Stinson,  a  family  dinner,  but  very  en- 
joyable I  have  no  doubt.  Saturday  evening  Father 
had  his  press  company,  —  over  a  hundred  here. 
Everything  to  eat  and  drink  that  money  could  buy, 
fine  music  from  the  band  and  a  good  time  altogether. 
No  ladies  at  all.  Friday  night  Emmons  went  to  the 
theatre  with  George  Stinson.  I  went,  for  a  wonder, 
to  the  Capitol.  Heard  little  beyond  the  roll  call. 
Thursday  your  Father  got  up  sick,  or  rather  he 
was  sick  and  did  not  get  up.  Some  dreadful  dish  at 
the  President's  dinner  had  disagreed  with  him.  I 
had  a  carriage  and  went  up  with  him  to  the  Capitol. 
He  staid  just  long  enough  to  call  the  house  to  order 
and  instal  Mr.  Dawes  *  in  the  chair,  and  then  came 
directly  home.  But  the  fresh  air  did  him  good  and 
we  at  home  had  a  most  enjoyable  day.  At  dinner 
we  had  several  very  agreeable  gentlemen.  Friday 
morning  we  had  more  gentlemen  to  breakfast.  From 
these  minutiae  you  can  see  that  we  are  again  leading 
a  Washington  winter.  It  is  company  all  the  time. 
Everything  goes  very  smoothly  in  the  kitchen. 

1  Henry  L.  Dawes  of  Massachusetts,  fourteen  years  in  the  House 
and  six  in  the  Senate;  then  chairman  of  the  Ways  and  Means 
Committee. 

[  105] 


LETTERS    OF 

Washington,  April  2nd,  Tuesday  morning. 
My  dear  Walker,  —  Breakfast  is  over ;  market- 
ing for  the  day  decided  on.  J'aime  and  M.  rigged 
for  out-door  play;  the  baby  just  flitting  out  for 
her  promenade;  Father  off  for  the  day.  Mr.  Sher- 
man reckoning  up  the  month's  expenses  for  me ;  and, 
as  I  am  chief  referee  in  this  last  clause,  I  will  im- 
prove the  odd  minute  by  commencing  my  to-morrow's 
letter  to  you.  Unfortunately  I  recapitulated  every 
item  of  the  last  days  to  Emmons,  and  now  to  relate 
them  again  is  renovem  dolorem  and  not  to  be  done 
with  any  piquancy.  Thank  God,  there  are  no  griefs, 
properly  speaking.  We  are  all  well,  and  unusually 
prosperous.  J'aime's  little  cheeks  are  rounded  out 
to  almost  normal  health.  Nothing  fairer  or  sweeter 
than  the  little  sister  can  be  seen.  This  afternoon  we 
all,  or  we  three,  dine  at  Mrs.  Sherman's.  I  am  also 
invited  to  Lady  Thornton's,  but  the  Sherman  invita- 
tion coming  first,  I  was  pre-engaged.  To-night  the 
great  Calico  Ball  comes  off.  My  first  interest  was 
to  go  to  it,  but  on  sober  second  thought  I  concluded 
not.  I  did  not  care  to  go  into  the  calico  costume,  and 
for  sweet  charity  the  ten  dollars  which  my  ticket 
would  cost  will  go  as  far  as  though  it  went  through 
the  circumlocution  office  of  a  ball.  To-morrow  I  have 
a  reception,  and  as  Lent  is  over,  it  begins  at  once  to 
be  quite  a  formal  affair,  including  lunch.     Thursday 

[  106] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

I  give  a  lunch  to  ladies,  all  Maine  ladies ;  intend  to 
have  what  Emmons  would  call  a  swell  table.  No 
wines,  of  course,  but  round  table,  flowers,  and  all 
manner  of  goodies  to  eat. 

Yesterday  your  Father  dined  with  the  Japanese 
ambassadors ;  dinner  very  long  and  tedious,  and 
long  before  the  ices  made  their  appearance  he  was  up, 
had  slipped  out  of  a  convenient  door,  and  was  at 
home. 

Easter  Sunday  we  all  went,  true  to  our  persuasion, 
to  hear  Dr.  Rankin ;  were  repaid  by  hearing  "  Praise 
God  Barebones  "  sort  of  hymns,  a  very  gloomy  ser- 
mon, and  not  one  flower  to  relieve  the  chilliness  of 
the  services.  For  the  children's  sake  I  wish  our  service 
had  more  magnetism.  M.,  however,  did  not  wor- 
ship with  us.  She  did  her  praying  with  Alice  Wood 
at  St.  Matthews,  where  her  poor  little  back  was 
tortured  by  having  nothing  to  lean  against  and 
her  poor  knees  scraped  raw  by  constant  kneeling. 
But  the  music,  to  use  her  own  words,  was  just 
lovely. 

Sunday  afternoon  we  had  Miss  Cary *  to  lunch, 
would  have  had  Nilsson,2  but  she  had  told  people  who 

1  Annie  Louise  Cary,  the  famous  singer.  Her  father  was  Dr.  Nel- 
son Howard  of  Maine,  and  her  mother's  name  Maria  Stockbridge 
Cary.  She  married  Charles  Morison  Raymond  of  New  York  in 
1882. 

2  Christine  Nilsson,  the  famous  soprano,  a  native  of  Sweden,  made 

[  107] 


LETTERS    OF 

wished  to  call  on  her  that  she  would  be  at  home  that 
afternoon,  so  we  could  not  have  her.  Besides  Cary, 
there  were  here  her  friend  Mr.  Fitch,  George  W.  Cur- 
tis,1 Cadwallader  2  and  Fanny  Washburne.  The  lunch 
was  nice  as  could  be,  beautiful  flowers,  and  the  com- 
pany very  agreeable.  I  liked  Mr.  Curtis  much  better 
than  I  thought  I  did,  and  Cary  is  full  of  knowledge 
connected  with  her  profession,  —  always  interesting 
to  outsiders.  She  is  from  Wayne  in  Maine.  Of 
course  the  great  event  of  last  week  was  the  opera. 
I  heard  Nilsson  twice,  Thursday  and  Saturday  in 
Faust  and  Lucia.  Cousin  A.  heard  her  twice  in 
Mignon  and  Lucia;  Emmons  twice  in  Faust  and 
Mignon ;  Father  all  three  times.  Her  acting  is 
perfectly  superb.  It  makes  me  feel  that  there 
is  a  remnant  of  the  grande  passion  left  in  the 
world.     Of  her  singing  I  do  not  feel  competent  to 

her  first  visit  to  America  from  1870  to  187&  under  the  management  of 
M.  Strakosch  and  returned  in  the  winter  of  1873-74.  She  sang 
Elsa  in  "Lohengrin"  at  Covent  Garden,  London,  but  had  created 
the  part  before  this  in  America,  the  opera  being  sung  in  this  country 
before  it  was  heard  in  England. 

1  George  William  Curtis,  the  well-known  author  and  publicist, 
was  in  Washington  from  1871  to  1874  as  one  of  a  civil  service  com- 
mission of  seven  members  appointed  by  President  Grant.  President 
Hayes  later  offered  Mr.  Curtis  his  choice  of  foreign  missions,  but  he 
declined  in  favor  of  the  presidency  of  the  New  York  Civil  Service 
Reform  Association. 

2  John  L.  Cadwallader  of  New  York,  Assistant  Secretary  of 
State,  1874-77. 

[   108] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

speak,  but  when  I  hear  and  see  acting,  I  can  tell 
whether  it  is  good  or  bad.  I  was  very  sorry  Emmons 
could  not  hear  her  in  Lucia,  but  he  had  to  start  for 
Andover  Saturday  morning.  When  you  are  collect- 
ing things  to  bring  home,  if  you  can  pack  sizable 
articles,  I  should  like  a  glove  and  handkerchief 
box,  and  a  jewelry  box  to  match.  Of  course  I  do 
not  care  more  for  them  than  for  any  other  thing, 
only  I  happen  to  think  of  them.  You  had  better 
bring  the  children,  Alice  and  M.,  Roman  sashes, 
I  have  so  many  silk  dresses  to  make  over  for  them. 
The  time  for  your  return  will  very  soon  be  here,  as 
your  Father  fully  expects  to  send  for  you  in  June. 
Stick  to  your  French,  as  I  want  you  to  be  able  to 
speak  it.     Good-bye  for  the  present. 


Wednesday  morning. 
We  had  a  very  pleasant  dinner  yesterday  at  Mrs. 
Sherman's.  No  one  there  beside  the  family  but  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Casserly,1  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Doyle,2  and  Gen. 
Charles  and  Mrs.  Ewing.  We  stayed  so  long  our 
driver  came  away,  so  Mrs.  Sherman  had  to  send  us 
home.  All  the  letters  I  send  came  from  Aumista  last 
night.    As  I  send  them  a  faithful  transcript  of  every- 

1  Eugene  Casserly,  Senator  from  California. 

2  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  T.  Doyle  of  Menlo  Park,  California. 

[  109  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

thing  that  takes  place  in  the  family,  I  do  not  see  why 
they  find  fault  with  my  letters. 

Cousin  Abby  carries  on  all  her  work  here.  She  has 
a  business  and  attends  to  it  precisely  as  though  she 
were  a  man.  W  pays  her  for  the  editing  of  his  mag- 
azine; then  she  writes  for  the  Harpers  and  the  In- 
dependent. Mary  Caroline  Pike  is  now  to  be  con- 
nected with  the  magazine.     Good-bye  my  dear  boy, 

Most  devotedly, 

Mothee. 


821  Fifteenth  St.    Washington,  April  9th,  Tuesday  evening. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  While  the  heavens  empty 
themselves  of  the  sweet  rain  we  all  are  panting  for, 
and  Mr  Sherman,  my  only  company,  studies  out  his 
phonographic  page,  I  will  anticipate  to-morrow  and 
commence  a  letter  to  you. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  heat,  the  three  babies 
upstairs  are  one  and  all  afflicted  with  colds.  Miss 
Sanborn  and  Annie  have  been  running  all  evening 
with  lumps  of  sugar,  moistened  with  paregoric,  and 
at  last  the  camp  is  still  and  I  in  petticoat  and  Father's 
slippers  and  dressing  sack,  have  found  my  way  down 
stairs  to  the  library  table.  I  find  Miss  Dodge  just 
gone  upstairs  for  the  night,  and  Tom  Sherman  the 
sole  occupant  of  the  room.     Father  is  out  dining  at 

[110] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Welcker's  with  Whitelaw  Reid  of  the  Tribune.  The 
day  has  been  hot  and  sultry  beyond  comparison,  and 
I  who  have  been  out  both  morning  and  afternoon,  am 
overcome  with  heat.  This  morning  I  was  out  on  er- 
rands intent;  this  afternoon  Miss  Ripley,  Cousin 
Abby  and  I  went  over  to  Georgetown  to  call  on  Mrs 
Cook,  and  coming  back  stopped  at  Mrs  Grant's  re- 
ception, a  moderately  handsome  reception,  —  the 
President  too  sick  to  be  down  stairs.  Nelly  Grant 
has  sailed  for  Europe.  She  is  with  Mrs.  Borie ;  2  is  to 
go  wherever  her  friends  go  this  summer,  travelling 
in  Switzerland  and  other  places,  and  in  the  fall  will 
be  in  Paris,  where  she  will  purchase  her  trousseau 
and  then  come  home  for  the  winter.  This  I  have 
from  her  mother. 

Almost  everything  of  the  gay  kind  has  come  to  a 
pause.  Yesterday  I  was  out  driving  a  little  while 
with  Mrs.  Hale.  Sunday  while  we  were  at  lunch, 
Mr  H  came  in.  He  was  delighted  to  see  some 
baked  beans;  sat  down,  and  did  to  them  ample  jus- 
tice ;  then  stayed  a  good  two  hours.    He  did  enjoy  it. 

Last  Thursday  I  had  my  Maine  lunch.  Everything 
went  off  splendidly,  seventeen  ladies  at  the  table.  As 
no   one   declined,   I  had  my   company   as   originally 

1  "Welcker's,"  a  well-known  restaurant  at  that  time,  situated  on 
Fifteenth  Street  below  H. 

2  See  page  80,  note. 

[in] 


LETTERS    OF 

planned.  Mrs.  Morrill  came  in  her  bonnet,  the  only 
one,  and  was  suavity  itself.  As  she  went  to  Mrs. 
Bowen's  1  lunch  and  was  the  only  lady  without  a  bon- 
net, and  came  to  mine  the  only  lady  with,  I  am  afraid 
she  will  think  Washington  lawless.  My  table  was 
very  handsome  and  the  courses  many  and  good.  And 
as  many  of  my  guests  were  from  boarding  houses, 
ample  justice  was  done  Mary's  good  cooking.  Here 
are  the  courses :  for  I  am  too  stupid  to  write  any- 
thing sensible  tonight:  Oysters  on  shell,  mock  turtle 
soup,  broiled  chicken  and  fried  potatoes,  sweetbreads 
and  peas,  asparagus,  Roman  punch,  partridge  and 
salad,  ices,  charlottes,  jellies,  sweetmeats,  fruits, 
coffee  and  tea. 

821  Fifteenth  St.,  Washington,  April  11th, 
Thursday  evening. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  According  to  promise,  I 
begin  my  journal  letter.  Emmons's  letter  came  down 
from  the  Capitol  yesterday,  just  as  I  was  getting  off 
my  mail  to  you,  so  I  put  it  into  the  package,  though 
I  had  no  time  for  explanation.  As  soon  as  your 
package  was  off  I  dressed  and  went  to  the  Capitol 
with  Miss  Ripley  who  had  invited  Cousin  A.  and 
myself  to  drive  with  her.  We  heard  a  not  uninterest- 
ing powwow  on  the  Appropriation  Bill.  Had  a  very 
pleasant  time,  and  finally  came  home  with  Mr.  and 

1  Mrs.  Thomas  M.  Bowen,  wife  of  the  Senator  from  Colorado. 

[112] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Mrs.  Hale  and  Father  in  Mrs.  Chandler's  carriage, 
Cousin  A.  coming  with  Miss  Ripley.  In  the  even- 
ing we  had  callers  all  the  time,  while  I  was  re- 
duced by  sleepiness  and  fatigue  to  the  verge  of 
insanity.  So  much  for  Wednesday.  To-day,  Thurs- 
day, Miss  S.  concluded  to  go  to  Mt  Vernon,  so 
directly  after  breakfast  she  was  off,  a  little  basket 
on  her  arm,  not  so  snowy  white  and  bare.  I  took  pos- 
session of  the  nursery,  and  with  Annie  for  lieutenant, 
had  a  most  delightful,  satisfactory  morning.  Mr. 
Chew,  having  just  sent  down  from  the  State  Depart- 
ment your  most  welcome  package  of  letters  there, 
March  26th,  I  have  the  enj  oyment  of  reading  the  con- 
tents aloud  to  Cousin  Abby.  We  sit  in  her  room,  the 
red,  and  M.  hangs  out  of  the  window  and  talks  to 
J'aime  playing  in  the  yard  below.  The  day  is  like 
a  midsummer  one.  Letters  read,  I  talk  over  the 
situation,  and  almost  decide  I  will  go  with  Emmons  to 
Europe,  but  leave  this  final  decision,  as  I  do  every 
other,  to  Father's  ultimatum.  After  dressing  we  go 
out  for  calls,  among  others,  Mrs.  Butler's  and  Mrs. 
Ames' 1  —  the  latter  looking  transcendentlv  beautiful. 
The  General  insists  upon  our  going  up  to  look  at  his 
boy,  but  we  do  not.   I  also  called  at  Gen.  Humphrey's2 

1  Wife  of  General  Benjamin  F.  Butler  of  Massachusetts.    General 
Butler's  daughter. 

2  Brevet-Major  Andrew  Atkinson    Humphreys,   a  graduate    of 

vol.  i  —8  [  113  ] 


( 


LETTERS    OF 

to  attend  the  reception  of  his  son.  At  six  am  on  the 
doorstep,  and  find  your  Father  already  in  the  house; 
dinner.  Miss  Sanborn  gets  home  from  Mt  Vernon, 
having  had  an  interesting  but  a  lonely  day.  When  I 
come  in,  your  Father  sits  in  the  sitting-room  reading 
your  letters.  I  open  up  on  the  going  abroad  ques- 
tion. Evidently  he  will  none  of  it,  though  originally 
the  plan  was  his.  If  I  go  abroad  he  wants  to  go  with 
me.  It  js  cholera  year,  and  he  does  not  believe  in 
being  on  the  Continent  this  summer.  He  has  made 
up  his  mind  to  have  Walker  come  home,  and  wants  to 
see  him  himself.  Besides,  his  education  will  be  better 
to  return  now  and  go  again,  and  he  wants  Walker  to 
go  into  a  French  family,  stay  awhile,  and  then  travel 
a  little,  returning  in  June.  So  you  see,  my  dear  boy, 
that  you  are  D.V.  —  (which  Cousin  A.  says  now 
means  Dolly  Varden)  to  bring  your  blessed  self  home 
very  soon.  I  am  so  delighted  at  the  prospect,  and 
there  seems  so  much  to  tear  myself  away  from,  that  I 
am  perfectly  satisfied.  May  you  be  so  too.  Good- 
night. 

Yesterday  got  up  at  eight,  dressed  myself  and 
washed  and  dressed  the  baby,  who  came  out  from  my 
hands  like  one  of  those  shining  ones  whose  angels  do 
always  behold  the  face  of  my  Father.    After  breakfast 

West  Point,  at  that  time  chief  of  the  Engineers,  U.  S.  A.  He  died  in 
Washington  in  1883. 

[114] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Miss  Ripley  came  in  to  ask  Cousin  A.  and  myself  to 
go  driving  with  her.  Were  only  too  happy  to  accept. 
Drove  on  the  Avenue  and  the  paved  streets  generally. 
Did  a  little  shopping  and  came  home  in  season  for 
lunch.  Found  an  elegant  bouquet  from  Mrs.  Grant 
awaiting  me.  Father  came  home  soon  after  three, 
and  electrified  me  with  the  information  that  five 
gentlemen  were  coming  to  dinner.  As  we  had 
designed  for  ourselves  only  a  supper-dinner,  you 
may  suppose  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost.  Mary 
Wilson,  however,  proved  equal  to  the  occasion,  and 
at  the  appointed  hour  all  the  stated  and  stately 
courses  showed  themselves  on  the  board.  We  had 
Secretary  Boutwell,1  Mr.  Dawes,  Roberts,2  May- 
nard  3  and  Kelly.  What  a  thing  it  is  to  have  good 
and  efficient  servants.  After  dinner  there  was  busi- 
ness talk,  and  Cousin  A  and  I  were  released  from 
attendance. 

Friday  we  had  Governor  Perham,4  Mr  Frye  and 
Mr  Bingham  5  to  dinner.     Very  pleasant  time. 

1  George  S.  Boutwell  of  Massachusetts,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
under  President  Grant. 

2  Marshall  O.  Roberts,  the  well-known  merchant  and  philan- 
thropist of  New  York. 

3  Horace  Maynard,  Member  of  Congress  from  Tennessee. 

*  Sidney  Perham,  Governor  of  Maine  and  Republican  Member  of 
Congress.    William  P.  Frye,  Representative  from  Maine. 

5  John  A.  Bingham,  Representative  from  Pennsylvania;  special 
Judge  Advocate  when  the  Lincoln  conspirators  were  tried,  one  of  the 

[115] 


LETTERS    OF 

Monday. 

The  day  is  very  rainy.  At  home  till  twelve,  then 
went  down  town  in  waterproof  and  with  umbrella  to 
buy  a  few  little  things  for  Miss  Sanborn.  Made 
safe  purchases  —  a  pretty  fan,  two  neckties,  and  two 
pocket  handkerchiefs.  Got  home  too  late  for  ordi- 
nary lunch,  and  had  just  sat  down  for  a  cup  of  tea 
to  recuperate  with,  when  Mr.  Mitchell  came  in,  an  old 
friend  of  your  Father's.  I  myself  knew  him  a  little 
eighteen  years  ago.  He  was  polite  enough  to  say  that 
he  would  have  known  me  anywhere,  could  not  believe 
my  hair  was  at  all  gray,  etc.,  etc.  He  stayed  about 
an  hour,  and  then  it  was  time  for  me,  as  soon  as  I 
had  snatched  a  hasty  cup  of  tea  on  my  own  account, 
to  attend  to  the  putting  up  of  Miss  Sanborn's  lunch. 
As  she  expected  to  live  out  of  her  lunch  basket  till 
she  reached  California,  you  may  suppose  that  I  had 
to  have  my  thoughts  about  me,  or  to  have,  to  use  a 
favorite  phrase  of  Shepherd  Pike's,1  my  eyes  for  my 
charges.  However,  I  filled  basket  and  box;  thought 
of    paregoric,    cologne,    wine,    pickles,    lemons    and 

movers  for  the  impeachment  of  Andrew  Johnson,  and  Minister  to 
Japan,  1873-85. 

1  James  Shepherd  Pike,  diplomatist  and  author,  of  Calais,  Maine, 
associate  editor  of  New  York  Tribune,  1850-60,  and  United  States 
Minister  to  the  Netherlands  in  1861-66.  He  bequeathed  $15,000  to 
the  Calais  Public  Library  on  condition  that  the  money  should  be  used 
to  purchase  no  book  that  had  not  been  out  at  least  ten  years. 

[116] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

sugar,  and  everything  else  which  might  be  required, 
and  after  a  hearty  dinner,  with  Tom  Sherman  for 
escort  to  the  depot,  in  the  rain  and  darkness,  Miss 
Sanborn  did  really  get  away.  She  has  been  with  me 
fifteen  weeks,  and  I  had  only  one  sentiment  as  the 
door  closed  upon  her,  that  of  unbounded  relief.  She 
is  a  good  creature  too. 

Tuesday. 
This  has  been  a  most  satisfactory  day  to  your 
Father  in  the  House.  Not  only  has  he  succeeded  in 
getting  Mr.  Dawes  to  report  from  the  Ways  and 
Means,  but  after  reviewing  Mr.  Beatty's1  course,  the 
House  sustained  his  ruling  with  only  six  dissenting 
votes.  You  will  get  the  whole  from  the  Globe,  which 
Tom  Sherman  sends  you  by  this  mail.  I  don't  see 
how  I  could,  but  I  did  forget  to  chronicle  in  yester- 
day's journal,  that  I  had  just  after  breakfast  a  long 

and  most  dreary  call  from  N .     He  had  as  usual 

nothing   to    talk   about   but   Alabama    state   claims. 

Heaven  knows  they  are  nothing  to  me.    N never 

had  any  judgment  as  man  or  boy,  in  California, 
Maine  or  Alabama ;  and  while  the  blood  in  our  veins 
is  just  the  same,  in  taste,  association,  reminiscence, 
expectation,  opinion  and  manner  of  life,  we  are  al- 
together opposed.     Nothing  in  common  but  blood; 

1  Gen.  John  Beatty,  member  of  Congress  from  Ohio. 

[  117] 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

and  yet  he  walks  into  my  house  as  though  he  had  a 
right ;  takes  me  from  my  family,  and  gives  me  abso- 
lutely nothing.  Your  Father  says  he  seems  to  stand 
in  quite  wholesome  awe  of  him,  which  is  really  an 
encouraging  symptom.  In  the  evening  he  came  again, 
and  again  yesterday,  but  this  morning  has  gone  to 

Maine  on  a  thirty  days'  furlough.     Poor  E (his 

wife!)  I  pity  her.  Mrs.  Hale  called  this  afternoon 
and  took  Miss  Dodge  and  myself  to  call  on  Mrs. 
Grant.  Had  the  usual  pleasant  White  House  recep- 
tion. This  evening  we  have  been  to  the  Capitol  to 
attend  the  Morse  1  memorial  services,  really  very  in- 
teresting, and  your  Father  presided  in  a  truly  hand- 
some manner.  For  particulars  vide  Chronicle  sent  by 
Thomas  Sherman. 

821  Fifteenth  St.,  Washington,  April  21st, 
Sunday  morning. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  I  seem  to  be  up  and  down 
stairs  by  myself;  no  breakfast;  no  family.  So  I 
improve  the  shining  moment  by  thinking  of  the  Blaine 
family  in  France.  The  difference  in  the  longitude  of 
the  two  continents  will  not  permit  me  to  imagine  you 
waiting  breakfast  or  church,  but  all  the  same,  what- 
ever you  are  doing  or  proposing  to  do,  my  heart  as 
you  wander  turns  fondly  to  thee. 

1  Samuel  Finlcy  Breese  Morse,  the  inventor  of  the  telegraph,  born 
1791,  died  April  2,  1872. 

[   H8] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Sunday  evening. 
I  have  to  begin  all  over  again.  It  seems  hardly 
possible,  and  yet,  I  have  not  been  able  all  day  to  re- 
sume my  letter.  We  had  breakfast  of  course,  then 
immediately  came  the  getting  ready  for  church,  then 
church,  and  services  over,  home  we  came.  Found 
Martha  standing  in  the  bay  window,  the  charming 
little  sister  on  exhibition.  Stayed  lovingly  with  her 
till  lunch  was  announced.  This  over,  in  came  Mr. 
Hale,  and  at  three,  Mr.  King  *  came  by  appointment 
to  carry  your  Father  and  me  to  drive.  Went  out  to 
Silver  Spring,  old  Mr.  Blair's 2  place.  Afternoon 
perfect.  Roads  in  good  condition,  good  horses,  and 
comfortable  open  carriage.  Father  and  Mr.  King 
occupied  themselves  entirely  with  each  other.  Mrs 
K  and  I  did  not  get  beyond  our  depth  with  each 
other.  I  asked  her  the  New  York  prices  of  goods  and 
she  told  me.  Got  home  at  six,  supper  at  seven.  Gen. 
and  Mrs.  Fry  3  called,  and  right  away  Gen.  Porter.4 

1  Horatio  King,  of  New  York,  Postmaster-General  under  President 
Grant. 

8  Francis  Preston  Blair,  born  at  Abingdon,  Va.,  1791,  came  to 
Washington  in  1830  to  establish  the  Globe  newspaper  for  President 
Jackson  as  the  organ  of  the  administration,  and  was  a  member  of 
Jackson's  famous  "Kitchen  Cabinet";  also  Democratic  candi- 
date for  Vice-President  in  1868.  He  retired,  in  the  administra- 
tion of  Polk,  to  his  farm  at  Silver  Spring,  Md.,  where  he  died  in 
1876. 

8  Gen.  James  Fry,  U.  S.  A.,  Provost  Marshal  General. 

4  Gen.  Fitz-John  Porter. 

[  119] 


LETTERS    OF 

The  Frys  are  gone  and  Gen.  P.  is  now  closeted  with 
your  Father.     Baby  crying.     Good-night. 


Tuesday  morning. 
Dear  Walker,  —  I  am  just  through  with  scrawl- 
ing a  letter  to  Emmons,  and  now  resume  my  pen  to 
perform  the  same  kind  office  to  you.  You  have  no 
idea  how  cold  and  backward  the  spring  is.  No  shade 
yet  from  the  trees,  and  large  fires  necessary.  Cousin 
Abby  and  I  have  at  this  moment  the  sitting  room  to 
ourselves,  she  reading  one  of  Trollope's  stories,  I 
writing.  The  little  Blaines  have  all  been  out,  M. 
to  school,  the  little  sister  with  her  nurse  and  J. 
with  his.  Miss  Sanborn  we  have  heard  from  as  far  on 
her  weary  way  as  Council  Bluffs.  If  her  brother  is 
as  glad  to  see  her  at  San  F.  as  I  am  not  to  see  her 
here,  she  will  have  nothing  to  complain  of.  Last 
night  we  had  two  Mr.  Hales  from  New  York,  Mr. 
Eugene  Hale,  Mr.  Wadsworth  of  Kentucky,  and  Mr 
Ambler  of  Ohio,  to  dine  with  us,  also  Mr  Frye,  — 
most  delightful  company,  and  as  we  have  been  living 
very  quietly  now  for  some  time,  I  enj  oyed  the  change. 
Apropos  of  nothing,  one  thing  I  would  like  to  have 
you  bring  me  is  a  thread  lace  black  parasol  cover. 
Get  it  rather  large  and  have  some  lady  like  Mrs 
Washburne  to  advise  you.     Your  Father  says  it  is 

[  120  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

not  worth  while  for  you  to  attempt  much  shopping. 
He  would  not  be  willing  to  have  you  shirk  the  duties, 
and  with  duty  you  do  not  gain  much.  Of  course  you 
will  want  to  get  souvenirs  for  home  friends.  If  you 
want  to  get  Alice  a  silk  dress,  I  have  no  objection. 
I  should  think  fourteen  yards  would  be  enough. 
Don't  forget  M.'s  doll.  Get  the  little  sister  some- 
thing that  will  last,  —  a  chain  and  locket,  or  some- 
thing of  that  kind,  ditto  for  Alice,  ditto  for  M. 
Get  Emmons  buttons  and  studs,  as  he  says  he  is  com- 
pletely out  of  jewelry.  Write  to  see  if  your  father 
is  willing  you  should  bring  him  home  a  watch,  that 
is,  if  you  think  you  could  purchase  to  advantage 
there.  Does  it  not  seem  good  to  be  writing  of  things 
which  look  towards  home  ? 


Wednesday  morning. 

Mrs.  Miller  told  me  yesterday  at  the  President's, 
whither  I  went  with  Miss  Ripley,  that  laces  are  now 
very  high  in  Paris  but  cheap  in  Germany.  Use  good 
judgment,  therefore,  in  regard  to  cover  for  parasol. 
It  is  no  use  attempting  anything  with  this  letter. 
My  ideas  are  all  wool  gathering.  My  interruptions 
have  been  numberless.  I  shall  have  to  trust  to  the 
contemporaneous  correspondence  I  send  with  this, 
and  to  your  good  heart   to  make   amends   for  and 

[  121  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

excuse  this  wretched  letter.  I  saw  Mrs.  Howard  *  yes- 
terday at  the  White  House,  and  with  her  Mrs  B , 

mother  of  your  Andover  schoolmate.  She  was  very 
genial  to  me;  inquired  for  you.  She  had  come  on 
from  Illinois  to  see  her  son,  who  has  been  spending 
his  vacation  with  Guy,  but  he  had  left  Friday  and 
Guy  Monday.  Mrs.  Howard  '  said  they  seemed  very 
uneasy  about  their  rooms.  I  guess  they  had  rather 
a  dull  time  with  the  Freedmen  and  the  babies.  The 
General  himself  is  off  in  the  Apache  country.  We 
got  a  good  letter  from  him  Friday.  Good-bye,  love 
from  everybody, 

Devotedly, 

Mother. 


821  Fifteenth  St.  Wednesday  morning,  May  1st,  1872. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  I  am  just  congratulating 
myself  on  an  excellent  habit  lately  inaugurated  — 
Can  a  habit  be  lately  inaugurated?  —  of  getting 
up  for  a  half  past  eight  breakfast;  so  now  at  9:15 
we  are  all  at  liberty  to  go  our  several  ways.  Father 
to  the  parlor,  crowded  full  of  gentlemen ;  Shermy 
to  his  writing  table ;  Cousin  A.  to  the  baby,  the  petted 

1  Wife  of  Gen.  O.  O.  Howard,  U.  S.  A.  Gen.  Howard  was  at  this 
time  Commissioner  of  the  Bureau  of  Refugees,  Freedmen  and  Aban- 
doned Lands  —  the  so-called  Freedmen's  Bureau. 

[   122  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

darling  of  upstairs,  down  stairs  and  my  lady's  cham- 
ber, M.  and  J'aime  with  spade  and  shovel  to  the 
yard,  and  the  Mama  to  her  best  and  dearest  of  boys. 

Monday  evening  we  three  went  to  hear  Aimee  in 
Grande  Duchesse.  She  was  really  fascinating.  Her 
dresses  are  just  as  pretty  as  they  can  be.  Altogether, 
with  the  music  and  the  applause  and  the  pretty 
dresses,  I  felt  myself  completely  en  rapport  with  her. 
Monday  also  I  went  out  calling.  If  I  am  half  so 
persevering  in  a  better  cause  as  I  am  in  returning 
my  thousand  and  one  calls,  I  shall  win  heaven  at  last. 

We  expect  now  to  adjourn  about  the  1st  of  June. 
Do  you  want  me  to  come  to  New  York  or  Boston 
or  wherever  you  may  come  in  on  your  return,  to  meet 
you  ?     Oh,  the  j  oy f ul  day ! 

Everything  political,  English  and  American,  seems 

to  be  in  a  sort  of  a  snarl.1    But  things  I  believe  will  all 

come  out  right.     Your  Father  was  so  impressed  with 

the  fatal  influence  which  any  concession  on  the  part  of 

Mr  Fish  would  have  on  our  political  situation,  that 

he  went  in  to   talk  over  matters   with  him   Sunday 

1  The  arbitration  of  the  Alabama  Claims,  as  arranged  by  the 
Treaty  of  Washington,  was  in  progress  at  this  time  in  Geneva,  with 
grave  danger  of  failure  of  arbitration.  On  May  13th  Earl  Russell 
said  in  the  House  of  Lords,  —  "The  case  seems  to  be  now  between 
the  honor  of  the  Crown  of  this  country  and  the  (re-)election  of 
General  Grant  as  President."  Quoted  by  J.  F.  Rhodes  —  "History 
of  the  United  States  from  the  Compromise  of  1850  to  the  Restora- 
tion of  Home  Rule  in  the  South  in  1877." 

[  123] 


LETTERS    OF 

evening.     Was  there  till  a  very  late  hour.     Commer- 
cial interests  bring  heavily  to  bear  on  the  question. 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington,  May  7th,  1872. 
Tuesday,  in  the  evening. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  To-morrow  will  be  your  sev- 
enteenth birthday  and  I  ought  to  write  you  some- 
thing very  good,  good  in  itself,  doing  you  good,  and 
good  for  me  to  write.  But,  alas,  my  surroundings 
are  not  favorable,  for  though  at  home  alone,  I  have 
been  lying  down  with  Que  J'aime  to  get  him  to  sleep, 
till  all  the  juice  of  the  poppies  is  in  my  eyes.  The 
night  is  very  warm  too,  and  light  enough  to  write 
by  adds  to  the  heat.  Your  Father  has  not  been  home 
since  morning.  He  dined  with  Mr.  Roosevelt 1  at  the 
Congressional,  sending  word  to  me  by  Tom  Sherman 
at  dinner  time  to  come  up  to  the  Capitol  and  go  to 
the  circus  with  him.  But  as  I  could  not  bear  the  idea 
of  leaving  the  children  at  their  most  lonely  hour, 
as  the  circus  repelled  rather  than  attracted,  I  got 
Cousin  Abby  to  consent  to  make  all  things  straight, 
and  myself  stayed  in  this  dear  home.  A  third 
reason  for  staying,  and  stronger  than  the  two 
others,  was  that  I  wanted  to  write  you. 

I  shall  not  attempt  any  advice  to  the  good  boy, 

1  Robert  Barnwell  Roosevelt,  Democrat,  from  New  York,  uncle 
of  President  Roosevelt,  and  author  of  the  bill  originating  the  U.  S. 
Fish  Commission. 

[  124  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

who  I  do  not  believe  needs  it,  for  how  can  one  have  a 
better  guide  than  conscience?  But  I  do  from  the 
bottom  of  my  heart  thank  you,  Walker,  for  all  the 
anxiety  you  have  spared  me.  I  have  always  trusted 
you,  so  has  your  Father,  and  never  have  you  abused 
the  trust.     Continue  ye  in  this  love. 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington,  May  15th, 
s  Wednesday  morning. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  I  do  not  think  you  will  get 
home  to  be  in  this  city  with  us,  as  we  all  hope  Con- 
gress will  adjourn  in  June.  They  are  so  busy  now 
in  the  House  that  I  do  not  see  your  Father  at  all. 
Yesterday,  it  is  true,  was  almost  entirely  lost  with 
bad  management  in  Committee  of  the  Whole.  I  had 
such  a  sense  of  loss  during  the  day  come  over  me, 
remembering  how  I  had  scarcely  exchanged  one  word 
with  your  Father,  that  I  dressed  and  went  up  to  the 
Capitol,  Cousin  Abby  with  me.  But  to  no  good. 
Not  only  did  I  not  see  your  Father,  but  we  did  not 
even  hit  the  same  car,  he  getting  home  before  me. 
Dinner  was  hurried,  and  he  left  the  table  for  the 
Capitol  long  before  the  meal  was  through.  I  sat  up 
for  him  till  eleven,  knowing  that  he  would  be  quite 
used  up  with  fatigue.  He  was,  and  got  to  bed  just  as 
soon  as  he  could.  I  feel  that  so  much  strain  as  he 
labors  under  cannot  be  good  for  him,  and  while  I  do 

[  125] 


LETTERS    OF 

not  dare,  from  his  peculiar  temperament,  hint  at  such 
a  thing,  I  try  in  every  way  I  can  to  break  the  con- 
finement. And  just  now  people  are  constantly  com- 
ing to  him  to  talk  on  the  presidential  question.  What 
can  be  done  with  the  situation,  occupies  all  heads, 
and  some  few  good  people  put  their  hearts  over  the 
bars.  But  no  politics  in  home  letters.  We  are  all 
getting  along  more  comfortably.  The  weather  is 
cooler ;  the  children  play  both  morning  and  after- 
noon in  the  square,  and  are  well  and  happy.  I  am 
greatly  anxious  to  get  to  Augusta,  but  the  house  will 
not  be  ready  for  us  for  several  weeks.  Do  you  think 
you  could  bring  me  one  large  choice  engraving  for 
the  mantel  of  the  library  at  home?  Something  his- 
torical or  classic  or  fancy  even;  of  course  I  would 
have  it  framed  in  Boston.  How  glad  we  shall  be  to 
see  you  at  home.  Only  think  how  short  a  time  since 
we  went  out  on  the  Tripoli  to  Boston  Lights. 

I  have  an  invitation  to  dinner  at  Secretary  Fish's 
next  Tuesday.  Everything  of  a  society  kind  seems 
about  over,  and  I  am  truly  sorry  to  have  to  look  out 
an  evening  dress  again.  To-night  Gen.  Banks  and 
a  few  other  gentlemen  dine  here,  entirely  informally. 
Monday  evening  Gen.  Garfield,  Mr.  Freihlenberg,  and 
Sargent 1  of  California  dined  here.  Your  Father  is 
much  attached  to  General  Garfield. 

1  Aaron  A.  Sargent,  born  in  Massachusetts ;   Representative  in 

[  1^6] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Have  just  been  interrupted  by  a  call  from  Miss 
Ripley.  She  is  expecting  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goff  :  there 
to-night  and  is  anxious  for  Cousin  A  and  myself  to 
call.  Promised  to  do  so.  Saturday  evening  we  had 
several  gentlemen  to  dinner,  some  from  Iowa,  Mr 
Wheeler  from  New  York,  and  others.  Nice  dinner 
and  very  agreeable  people.  Friday  your  Father  dined 
with  Senator  Cameron 2  at  Wormley's.  Thursday 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charlton  Lewis  3  of  New  York,  Judge 
Black,4  Pay  Director  Cunningham,  and  Mr.  Bridge- 
man  of  the  Boston  Advertiser,  dine  here.  Mary 
Wilson  goes  to  Newport  the  last  of  the  month,  and 
then  during  the  few  days  we  may  be  here,  Hannah 
cooks  for  us.  No  company  then.  I  take  home  this 
summer  four  colored  maids. 

Your  Father  thinks  I  shall  write  you  about  twice 

Congress  from  California,  1861-73;  Senator,  1873-79,  and  after- 
wards successively  Minister  to  Germany  and  Russia.  He  died 
in  1887. 

1  Nathan  Goff  of  West  Virginia.  Appointed  U.  S.  District  Attorney 
of  that  State  by  President  Johnson  and  later  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
under  President  Hayes;  appointed  in  1892  by  President  Harrison 
judge  of  the  4th  U.  S.  Circuit. 

2  Simon  Cameron  of  Pennsylvnia,  Secretary  of  War  and  Minister 
to  Russia  under  President  Lincoln. 

8  Charlton  Thomas  Lewis,  U.  S.  Deputy  Commissioner  of  Internal 
Revenue,  1863-64,  managing  editor  of  New  York  Evening  Post,  1870- 
71,  an  authority  on  prison  associations  and  life  insurance. 

*  Jeremiah  Sullivan  Black  of  Pennsylvania.  See  also  note,  page 
236,  Vol.  I. 

[   127  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

more.  He  expects  to  be  in  Boston  at  the  Jubilee 
June  20th,  also  wants  to  go  to  Saratoga.  Would 
like  to  have  you  and  Emmons  at  the  Quarterly  Cen- 
tennial of  his  class.  Hopes  to  be  in  New  York  to 
meet  Walker  when  he  comes.     Good-bye,  my  dearest. 

Lovingly, 

MoTHEE. 


821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington,  May  29th, 
Wednesday  morning. 

My  deaeest  Boy,  —  This  is  about  the  last  letter 
I  shall  attempt  to  write.  Your  Father  says  he  shall 
write  once  more  to  you  at  Liverpool.  We  are  all 
looking  forward  eagerly  to  your  coming  home.  Con- 
gress is  to  adjourn  Monday.  I  am  rather  expecting 
to  get  away  Wednesday.  If  it  were  not  for  Alice, 
I  should  stay  till  the  next  week,  as  the  house  at  home, 
is  I  fear  in  the  direst  confusion  still.  We  are  all 
very  comfortable  here ;  the  weather  still  so  cool  that 
we  feel  no  impatience  for  the  relief  of  a  more  northern 
latitude.  Your  friend  Mr.  Gonya  has  turned  up. 
He  called  to  see  your  Father  at  the  Capitol  last 
Thursday.  Of  course  we  were  very  glad  to  see  him, 
first  on  your  account,  and  afterwards  on  his  own,  as 
he  proved  himself  a  very  nice  gentleman.  He  was  in- 
vited to  dinner  on  Friday,  and  then  because  of  even- 

[  128  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

ing  session  it  was  postponed  until  Saturday.  Satur- 
day we  had  a  round  table  dinner.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bates, 
whom  you  saw  in  Paris,  —  they  brought  letters  of 
introduction  from  Gen.  Schenck,  —  Mr.  Shellabarger  1 
of  Ohio,  and  four  ladies  from  the  same  state,  Mr. 
Packer  2  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hale  and 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ingersoll.3  I  went  out  with  Mr.  Gonya. 
He  felt  very  badly,  as  he  had  come  from  New  York 
with  only  a  business  suit  on,  but  of  course  no  one  but 
himself  cared  for  that.  He  said  a  great  deal  about 
you,  and  I  was  particularly  pleased  to  hear  him  say 
that  you  were  of  great  advantage  to  him  because  you 
spoke  French  so  well.  He  called  again  Monday  even- 
ing, but  would  not  come  in  as  we  had  company  for 
dinner.     Was  very  sorry  not  to  see  him  again. 

Emmons  is  going  with  your  Father  to  Washing- 
ton, Penna.  the  last  of  June.  Am  writing  him  to- 
day to  be  sure  to  have  plenty  of  nice  clothes.  Think 
he  finds  it  almost  as  hard  as  you  did  to  get  along 
on  the  allowance.     The  Hales  get  away  from  Wash- 

1  Samuel  Shellabarger,  member  of  Congress  from  Ohio. 

3  Asa  Packer,  founder  of  Lehigh  University. 

8  Robert  G.  Ingersoll  of  Illinois,  the  famous  orator.  In  Mr. 
Ingersoll's  speech  nominating  Mr.  Blaine  at  the  Republican  National 
Convention  in  Cincinnati  in  1876  occurred  the  now  historic  phrase 
"plumed  knight,"  which  became  so  popular  as  applied  to  Mr.  Blaine. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Mr.  Blaine  himself  never  liked  this 
appellation,  thinking  that  it  suggested  "white  feather"  as  much  .as 
"Helmet  of  Navarre." 

vol.  i  —9  [  129  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

ington  Saturday.     Mr.  H.  was  here  to  dinner  again 
Monday. 

As  I  said  in  my  last  letter,  do  not  be  particular  to 
buy  the  things  I  have  specified.  Anything  else  will 
do  just  as  well  as  lace  or  sash  or  picture.  You  will 
find  the  old  house  all  renovated  and  everybody  I  hope 
in  the  best  of  health  and  spirits  to  meet  you.1 

To  Miss  Dodge,  in  Hamilton 

Augusta,  July  16th,  1872. 
Mr.  Blaine  and  the  boys,  the  elder  ones,  have  just 
driven  off  to  church  —  three  fans,  a  cotton  umbrella 
and  a  horse  and  buggy  amongst  them.  The  Papa 
took  the  umbrella,  Emmons  drove,  and  Walker  fanned, 
and  I  only  hope  they  may  step  far  enough  heaven- 
ward to  pay  for  the  earthly  trouble  —  for  Mons  in 
harnessing  broke  out  into  a  heat  which  nothing  could 
allay  —  his  Father  in  the  supreme  moment  of  de- 
parture turned  round  to  tell  us  how  large  his  head 
felt,  while  Walker  with  the  prospect  of  three  or  four 
favorite  girls  to  flirt  with,  was  eminently  content. 
J'aime  and  M.  were  in  the  yard  to  see  them  off, 
J'aime  all  currants  and  raspberries  from  his  throat 
to  the  hem  of  his  frock,  but  clean  as  to  the  face,  and 
sweeter  than  honey  in  the  honeycomb ;   his  last  word 

1  Walker  landed  in  Boston  early  in  June,  1872. 

[  130  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

to  the  martyrologists  being  "  Hulloa !  "  a  greeting 
which  they  seemed  to  think  a  pitiful  satire. 

To  Mrs.  Homan 

Autumn,  1872  (?) 
Dear  Neighbor,  —  The  storm  prevents  my  ven- 
turing in,  so  I  take  this  more  formal  method  of 
inviting  yourself,  Mr  Homan  and  Mrs  Manley  to 
tea  tomorrow  evening  at  6-%.  Doors  open  at  any 
hour  after  dinner,  company  extremely  informal;  ex- 
cuses not  in  order.  Do  you  think  it  would  be  more 
christianlike  to  invite  Miss  Town?  I  cannot  bear  to 
hurt  her  feelings.  If  you  say  so,  I  shall.  Good-bye, 
affectionately  yours,  with  a  cough. 

H.  S.  B. 

Friday  afternoon. 


[  131] 


1876 


"  The  session  in  the  House  preceding  the  presidential  contest  of 
1876  was  a  period  of  stormy  and  vehement  contention.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Blaine  became  the  subject  of  a  violent  personal  assault.  Charges 
were  circulated  that  he  had  received  $64,000  from  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  Company  for  some  undefined  services.  On  the  24th  of 
April,  1876,  he  rose  to  a  personal  explanation  in  the  House  and  made 
his  answer.  He  produced  letters  from  the  officers  of  the  Company  and 
from  the  bankers  who  were  said  to  have  negotiated  the  draft,  in  which 
they  declared  there  had  never  been  any  such  transaction,  and  that 
Mr.  Blaine  had  never  received  a  dollar  from  the  Company.  Mr. 
Blaine  proceeded  to  add  that  the  charges  had  reappeared  in  the  form 
of  an  assertion  that  he  had  received  bonds  of  the  Little  Rock  and 
Fort  Smith  Railroad  as  a  gratuity,  and  that  these  bonds  had  been 
sold  through  the  Union  Pacific  Company  for  his  benefit.  To  this  he 
responded  that  he  never  had  any  such  bonds  except  at  the  market 
price,  and  that,  instead  of  deriving  any  profit  from  them,  he  had  in- 
curred a  large  pecuniary  loss.  On  May  2nd  a  resolution  was  adopted 
in  the  House  to  investigate  an  alleged  purchase  by  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  Company,  at  an  excessive  price,  of  certain  bonds  of  the  Little 
Rock  and  Fort  Smith  Railroad.  It  soon  became  evident  that  the 
investigation  was  aimed  at  Mr.  Blaine.  An  extended  business  corre- 
spondence on  his  part  with  Warren  Fisher,  of  Boston,  running  through 
years  and  relating  to  various  transactions,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
a  clerk  named  Mulligan,  and  it  was  alleged  that  the  production  of  this 
correspondence  would  confirm  the  imputations  against  Mr.  Blaine. 
When  Mulligan  was  summoned  to  Washington,  Mr.  Blaine  possessed 
himself  of  the  letters,  together  with  a  memorandum  that  contained  a 
full  index  and  abstract.  On  June  5th  he  rose  to  a  personal  explana- 
tion, and,  after  denying  the  power  of  the  House  to  compel  the  pro- 
duction of  his  private  papers,  and  his  willingness  to  go  to  any  extremity 
in  defence  of  his  rights,  he  declared  his  purpose  to  reserve  nothing. 
Holding  up  the  letters,  he  exclaimed :  "  Thank  God,  I  am  not  ashamed 
to  show  them.    There  is  the  very  original  package,  and  with  some 


sense  of  humiliation,  with  a  mortification  I  do  not  attempt  to  conceal, 
■with  a  sense  of  outrage  which  I  think  any  man  in  my  position  would 
feel,  I  invite  the  confidence  of  forty-four  millions  of  my  countrymen, 
while  I  read  these  letters  from  this  desk." 

The  demonstration  closed  with  a  dramatic  scene.  Josiah  Caldwell, 
one  of  the  originators  of  the  Little  Rock  and  Fort  Smith  Railroad,  who 
had  full  knowledge  of  the  whole  transaction,  was  travelling  in  Europe, 
and  both  sides  were  seeking  to  communicate  with  him.  After  finish- 
ing the  reading  of  the  letters,  Mr.  Blaine  turned  to  the  chairman  of  the 
committee  and  demanded  to  know  whether  he  received  any  despatches 
from  Mr.  Caldwell.  Receiving  an  evasive  reply,  Mr.  Blaine  asserted, 
as  within  his  own  knowledge,  that  the  chairman  had  received  such 
despatches  "completely  and  absolutely  exonerating  me  from  this 
charge  and  you  have  suppressed  it."  A  profound  sensation  was 
created  and  General  Garfield  said:  "I  have  been  a  long  time  in 
Congress  and  never  saw  such  a  scene  in  the  House." 

The  Republican  National  Convention  was  now  at  hand  and  Mr. 
Blaine  was  the  most  prominent  candidate  for  the  presidential  nomina- 
tion. .  .  .  On  June  11th,  the  Sunday  preceding  the  Convention, 
just  as  he  was  entering  Church  at  Washington,  he  was  prostrated  with 
the  extreme  heat,  and  his  illness  for  a  time  created  wide  apprehension. 
The  advocates  of  his  nomination,  however,  remained  unshaken  in 
their  support.  On  the  first  ballot  he  received  285  votes  out  of  a  total 
of  754,  the  remainder  being  divided  among  Senator  Morton,  Secretary 
Bristow,  Senator  Conkling,  Governor  Hayes,  and  several  others.  On 
the  seventh  ballot  his  vote  rose  to  351,  lacking  only  28  of  a  majority, 
but  the  union  of  the  supporters  of  all  the  other  candidates  gave  Gov- 
ernor Hayes  384,  and  secured  his  nomination.  Immediately  after  the 
Convention,  on  the  resignation  of  Senator  Morrill  to  accept  the  Secre- 
taryship of  the  Treasury,  Mr.  Blaine  was  appointed  Senator  to  fill 
the  unexpired  term,  and  in  the  following  winter  he  was  chosen  by  the 
Legislature  for  the  full  ensuing  term." 

Appleton's  E?icydopcedia  of  American  Biography. 


To  Emmons  at  Harvard 

Washington,  June  4,  1876. 

I  have  been  very  anxious  to  hear  from  you  to  know 
how  you  were  enduring,  like  a  good  son,  the  fiery 
ordeal  through  which  your  father  is  passing. 

Its  fierceness  no  one  but  himself  can  know,  but 
walking  it,  he  feels  peculiarly  for  you  and  Walker. 

The  defeat  in  the  convention  is  as  the  small  dust 
of  the  balance  to  him,  though  no  one  better  knows 
than  himself  the  prize  for  which  he  was  contending. 
But  the  thought  which  takes  the  manhood  out  of 
him  is  that  you  and  Walker,  who  are  just  entering 
life,  may,  perhaps,  be  forced  to  see,  not  only  all 
your  proud  and  happy  anticipations  disappointed, 
but  yourselves  put  on  the  defensive. 

He  has  been  upstairs  looking  up  the  order  of  a 
speech  for  the  House  to-morrow,  but  it  is  very  likely 
it  will  never  be  made,  as  every  new-comer  has  dif- 
ferent advice  to  give. 

I  find  it  difficult  to  command  my  thoughts,  but 
there  is  one  thing  I  must  say,  though  I  presume  and 
hope  you  will  laugh  at  my  fears.  I  have  been  afraid 
you  might  go  into  Boston  and  do  something  to 
Mulligan ;  but  you  have  sense  enough  to  know  that 
nothing  could  be  worse  for  your  Father  than  noto- 

[  135] 


LETTERS    OF 

riety  of  that  kind.  Keep  yourself  as  patient  and 
hopeful  as  you  can.  .  .  .  All  of  us  are  well,  and  your 
father  has  a  great  reserve  of  pluck  and  resource. 


To  Mr.  Joseph  H.  Manley 

Sunday  afternoon. 
June  4,  1876. 
Washington. 

My  dear  Friend,  —  The  only  tears  I  have  shed 
in  all  this  bitter  time  have  been  over  your  letter.  I 
could  not  read  unmoved  what  you  say  of  him,  for 
you  confirm  what  I  have  always  said,  that  those  who 
know  him  most,  love  him  best.  I  dare  to  say  that  he 
is  the  best  man  I  have  ever  known.  Do  not  misunder- 
stand me,  I  do  not  say  that  he  is  the  best  man  that 
ever  lived,  but  that  of  all  the  men  whom  I  have 
thoroughly  known,  he  is  the  best. 

You  must  not  think,  dear  Joe,  from  the  tone  in 
which  I  write  that  we  are  cast  down,  or  if  cast  down, 
discouraged,  but  can  one  tread  the  wine  press  so  long 
alone  and  not  some  time  give  out? 

We  are  full  of  courage,  though  perfectly  aware 
that  now  is  the  crisis.  Is  n't  the  suspense  hard  to 
bear  and  does  it  not  require  almost  more  than  mortal 
wisdom,  to  decide  whether  to  do,  or  to  leave  alone? 
I  think  Mr.  Blaine  will  decide  to  do,  though  before 

[  136] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

tomorrow,  something  or  somebody  may  turn  him 
from  what  is  now  his  fixed  purpose.  But  if  there 
ever  was  a  time  when  there  were  reasons  for  his  being 
nominated,  those  reasons  are  doubled  and  intensified 
by  all  this  precaution.  Why  should  the  great  Re- 
publican party  play  into  the  hands  of  Confederates 
whether  they  hail  from  the  farther  South  or  from 
Kentucky  ? 

I  have  never  been  enthusiastic  for  the  nomination. 
The  intensest  feeling  I  had  was  that  it  should  not  go 
to  Bristow.  But  now  I  want  Mr.  Blaine  to  have  it 
and  to  go  to  it,  as  it  were,  on  men's  shoulders.  I 
hate  to  hate  but  I  am  in  danger  of  that  feeling  now. 
I  have  written  with  great  abandon  and  perhaps  im- 
prudently but  you  will  confine  all  I  have  said  to 
yourself. 

If  you  are  staying  with  Abby,  please  give  her  my 
dear  love  and  believe  me  most  sincerely  yours, 

Harriet  S.  Blaine. 

To  M.  in  Augusta 

Newhall  House,  Milwaukee,1 
October  26th,  1876. 
Thursday,  3  p.  m. 

My  dear  M.,  —  Yesterday  I  spent  at  Peoria,  quite 

a  memorable  day  to  me.    We  left  Grand  Rapids  about 

1  Mr.  Blaine  was  at  this  time  campaigning  for  Hayes  in  the 
Northwest. 

[  137] 


LETTERS    OF 

eleven  o'clock  Thursday  morning,  reached  Chicago 
about  eight,  had  two  hours  there  for  supper  and  a 
little  rest.  We  were  met  at  the  depot  by  some  gentle- 
men with  a  carriage  and  were  driven  to  the  Grand 
Pacific.  There  I  found  a  beautiful  room  awaiting  us 
and  a  supper  already  ordered.  The  supper  was  as 
delightful  as  the  room,  and  I  had  quite  a  nap  in  my 
bonnet  before  we  were  obliged  to  move.  We  reached 
Peoria  about  six  in  the  morning,  and  before  I  had  an 
idea  we  were  there,  and  while  still  struggling  with  my 
buttons,  I  heard  Mrs.  Ingersoll's  well  remembered 
voice  asking  for  me.  There  she  was  at  six  in  the 
morning,  about  a  dozen  gentlemen  in  attendance,  three 
carriages,  herself  dressed  beautifully  in  a  brown  silk 
costume,  all  ready  to  take  us  to  the  very  middle  of 
her  heart  and  home.  I  took  my  overskirt  over  my 
arm,  put  a  veil  over  my  hair,  pinned  my  crimps,  went 
through  the  introduction  with  as  much  dignity  as  I 
could  muster,  and  was  soon  at  the  Ingersoll  mansion. 
Eva  came  running  down  to  the  gate  to  meet  us  and 
Maude  stood  at  the  door.  Then  there  was  Mrs. 
Parker,  Mrs.  Ingersoll's  mother,  a  delightful  lady 
looking  not  much  older  than  myself,  Mrs.  Farrar, 
Mrs.  I.'s  sister,  a  young  lady  of  twenty,  Mr.  F.  and 
a  little  girl,  a  varied  and  agreeable  family.  The 
house  is  large  and  handsome  and  handsomely  fur- 
nished, but  it  was  as  the  small  dust  in  the  balance  com- 

[  138] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

pared  to  the  hospitality  which  was  lavished  upon  us. 
Perhaps  I  never  felt  so  welcome  anywhere  in  my  life. 

At  ten  o'clock  Mr.  Ingersoll,  who  had  been  away 
speaking  arrived,  and  nothing  could  exceed  the 
warmth  of  his  welcome.  At  nine  we  had  breakfast. 
Mrs.  I.  had  ordered  it  for  seven,  but  for  some  un- 
explained cause,  which  no  one  seemed  to  trouble  them- 
selves about,  it  was  two  hours  late.  No  matter,  it  was 
a  loaded  table  when  we  got  it.  Three  kinds  of  meat, 
not  to  mention  fried  oysters,  potatoes  in  different 
styles,  cakes,  etc.  Here  arose  a  difficulty.  Mr.  Far- 
rar  was  very  nervous,  and  as  soon  as  he  found  what 
was  expected  of  him,  had  disappeared.  His  wife 
sent  for  him  to  wait  on  the  table,  but  he  never  came 
back.  Mr.  Blaine  did  not  want  to  carve,  pleading 
that  he  never  did  it  at  home,  and  was  moreover  so 
hungry,  he  should  hold  out  only  for  three  or  four 
plates.  So  Susan  Sharkey  was  called  in  from  the 
kitchen,  was  introduced  to  us  as  Miss  Sharkey,  stood 
up  and  served  us  all  impartially  to  the  three  prin- 
cipal dishes,  not  troubling  us  to  give  a  preference. 
She  was  a  most  wholesome,  respectable  looking  woman, 
as  indeed  were  all  Mrs.  Ingersoll's  maids  —  five  — 
and  after  she  had  performed  the  work  required  of  her, 
she  withdrew  without  a  word.  I  took  a  great  liking 
to  her.     She  has  lived  with  Mrs.  I.  thirteen  years. 

The  house  was  thronged  with  people  all  day,  and 

[  139] 


/ 


LETTERS    OF 

every  man  who  came  in  wanted  to  be  introduced  to 
me.  One  woman  who  came,  by  the  name  of  Stanley, 
said  she  saw  I  did  not  remember  her,  but  that  I  used 
to  go  to  school  to  her  in  Hamilton.1  Of  course  I 
was  able  to  convince  her  that  my  name  was  not  Han- 
nah Augusta  or  Mary  Abby. 

In  the  evening  there  was  a  great  crowd  came  up 
to  serenade  your  Father.  They  gave  three  cheers  for 
Mrs.  Blaine  also  and  Mr.  Ingersoll  did  his  best  to 
make  me  go  onto  the  steps  and  acknowledge  the  com- 
pliment, but  I  need  not  say  that  for  this  I  was  too 
modest,  so  he  did  it  for  me.  At  eleven  we  came  down 
to  the  sleeping  car  and  went  to  bed,  though  we  did 
not  leave  P  until  one  o'clock,  reaching  Chicago  at 
seven.  Two  nights  that  I  have  been  in  the  sleeping 
car. 

We  breakfasted  at  the  Grand  Pacific,  and  at  once 
left  for  this  city,  arriving  between  twelve  and  one 
o'clock.  Have  just  had  dinner,  and  Father  has  now 
gone  off  to  make  his  speech.  I  was  not  prepared  for 
the  enthusiasm  which  everywhere  greets  your  Father. 
Every  attention  which  can  be  thought  of  is  showered 
upon  him.  At  breakfast  this  morning  I  saw  Horace 
Williams,  who  spoke  to  me  of  Uncle  Sylvanus's  death, 
but  I  had  heard  it  just  before  through  a  telegram 
from  Charles  Caldwell  asking  us  to  come  to  Alton. 
I  have  been  very  much  tempted  to  leave  your  Father 

1  Two  cousins  of  Mrs.  Blaine's  went  to  school  in  Hamilton. 

[  140  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

and  spend  Sunday  with  them,  but  have  now  given  it 
up,  as  your  Father  did  not  quite  like  the  thought  of 
separating.  I  am  very  sorry  net  to  have  been  at 
home  at  this  time.  I  must  not  forget  to  mention 
that  at  St.  Joseph,  quite  a  large  town  in  Michigan, 
where  a  great  crowd  had  gathered  at  the  depot,  I 
was  very  much  taken  aback  to  hear  proposed  "  and 
three  cheers  for  his  honored  lady,  who  is  also  pres-  . 
ent."  Almost  as  good  as  "  His  Lady  fanned  her 
wounded  knight."  I  think  the  compliment  was  very 
likely  suggested  by  Dr.  Stratton,  an  old  friend  of 
the  family  from  Winslow,  who  lives  in  St.  Jo.  He  is 
a  man  of  position  I  imagine  in  the  community,  though 
St.  Jo  is  not  a  very  aristocratic  looking  place.  I 
saw  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frye  at  the  depot  here  a  moment 
this  morning.  They  had  come  from  Green  Bay  to- 
day and  were  starting  for  home.  Emma  is  at  Stam- 
ford at  school  with  Alice,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F  go  to 
Washington  in  about  four  weeks.  It  seemed  quite 
homelike  to  see  them.  I  must  dress  now,  as  some 
ladies  are  coming  to  call  on  me.  With  love  to  all, 
most  affectionately, 

Mother. 


[  Ml  ] 


1877-1879 


The  family  spent  the  winter  of  1877-78  in  Augusta,  Mr.  Blaine 
being  in  Washington  when  his  official  duties  made  it  necessary. 


To  Miss  Dodge,  in  Hamilton 

Augusta,  January  10th,  1877. 

My  dear  Abby,  —  I  have  but  a  moment.  Supper 
is  just  ready.  Mary  is  waiting  for  me  to  decide 
whether  it  is  worth  while  to  open  a  can  of  peaches 
for  that  meal.  Jamie  is  fighting  the  dogs  in  the 
kitchen,  and  Mr  B  is  directing  a  letter  to  Miss  Mary 
A  Dodge,  Augusta  Maine,  in  anticipation  of  your 
winter  residence. 

I  have  a  room  for  you  as  good  as  the  Chamber  of 
Peace,  —  the  windows  open  to  the  rising  sun,  and 
two  of  them  hold  the  sun  while  he  runs  his  race.  I 
shall  give  you  up  the  library  while  the  master  of  the 
house  is  away.  It  is  never  used,  and  you  can  take 
possession.  In  short,  I  hope  to  establish  you  in  com- 
fort if  not  in  luxury.  So  much  for  what  I  can  do 
for  you.  What  you  can  do  for  me  goes  without  say- 
ing. I  shall  float  instead  of  sinking,  shall  enjoy  in- 
stead of  sulking,  shall  eat  and  sleep,  shall  have  a 
motive  and  a  stimulus,  and  shall  now  and  then  do  you 
the  honor  to  ask  your  opinion.  I  ought  not  to  write 
another  word,  for  every  thought  in  my  head  and  all 
the  strength  of  my  hands  is  given  to  my  party  of 
Friday  evening.  What  do  you  think  of  providing 
standing  room  and  supper  for  over  five  hundred 
vol.  i  — 10  145 


LETTERS    OF 

people?  Five  hundred  will  not  come,  but  so  many  are 
asked,  and  all  the  preparations  have  gone  through  my 
head.  The  ices  and  salads  are  made  out,  but  our 
kitchen  furnishes  the  rest.  Do  you  know  that  one 
quart  of  ice  cream  will  suffice  for  ten  persons,  and  that 
one  quart  of  oysters  will  satisfy  only  five?  Then  we 
are  making  thirty-two  charlottes.  If  this  seems  small 
and  irrelevant  talk  to  you,  remember  that  you  troubled 
Whittier  with  a  new  old  gown.  I  hear  he  refers  to  it 
as  new,  but  undoubtedly  it  is  the  lavender.  And  by 
the  way,  you  will  need  that  dress  here.  Augusta  is 
not  gayless,  and  I  want  you  to  do  honor  to  the  family. 
Since  I  have  been  writing  there  has  been  a  fierce  storm 
between  the  Jameses.  It  ended  in  a  graceful  capitu- 
lation on  the  part  of  the  elder,  followed  by  a  perfect 
abandon  of  affection  on  that  of  the  less,  and  H. 
kept  time  to  the  march  of  events  by  crying  her  eyes 
out  because  "  Papa  was  not  going  to  let  Jamie  go 
to  the  Exhibition."  Do  not  feel  concerned,  we  are 
all  going,  a  happy  family  together.  Did  Mr  B.  re- 
member to  tell  you  about  M.  sending  Jamie  down 
town  with  five  cents  to  buy  her  some  stick  cinnamon? 
He  returned  with  a  package  of  slippery  elm.  M. 
could  think  of  nothing  but  Elizabeth's  poultices. 

Most  affectionately, 

H.  S.  B. 

[  146  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

To  M.,  Visiting  in  Marquette 

Augusta,  August  1st,  1879 
Friday  before  dinner. 

My  deae  M.,  —  It  is  now  several  hours  since  my 
dearest  daughter  took  her  hegira,  and  already  I  seem 
to  have  volumes  to  tell  her.  How  the  dust  of  your 
chariot  wheels  had  not  subsided  before  I  found  myself 
engaged  in  a  little  round  with  Alice,  who  hoped  she 
should  never  be  called  selfish  again,  seeing  she  had  not 
hesitated  to  give  you  her  lisle  thread  gloves,  when 
yours,  through  your  own  carelessness,  in  the  supreme 
moment  of  your  departure,  were  found  wanting.  In 
vain  your  Father  assured  her  that  lisle  thread  gloves 
grew  on  every  bush  and  that  he  would  make  her  a 
present  of  half  a  dozen  pairs  —  the  little  maid  would 
have  her  will,  and  said,  "  Nay,  we  are  even."  And 
then  the  three  who  were  left,  Alice,  the  Pater  and  I, 
adjourned  to  the  billiard  room,  where  I  looked  on 
at  this  child  beating  what  Emmons  and  Ely  would 
call  her  Governor  out  of  his  boots,  dropping  her 
cue  in  the  middle  of  a  game  and  vanishing  without 
ceremony,  as  she  remembered  that  the  ice  cream  for 
her  picnic  was  unordered  —  and  old  Barbara  Frietchie 
had  hardly  taken  up  the  cue  she  threw  down  when 
Mr.  Hale  appeared  in  the  door,  having  arrived  from 
Bowdoinham.     The  minute  I  saw  him,  of  course  I  felt 

[  1*7] 


LETTERS    OF 

anxiety  about  the  dinner,  and  while  I  seemed  to  be 
in  the  very  act  of  welcoming  him  with  empressement, 
I  found  myself  in  close  confab  with  Caroline  in  the 
kitchen,  discussing  fish,  soup,  vegetables  and  dessert. 
Old  Caroline  was  not  to  be  moved  from  her  serene 
foundations.  It  requires  brains  to  apprehend,  and 
I  have  always  known  that  hers  were  all  starch. 

Not  to  tire  you  with  particulars  —  I  had  hardly 
resumed  my  manners  in  the  billiard-room,  when  Fred 
appeared  with  the  horses  to  tell  me  that  Emmons  had 
gone  off  in  a  prodigious  hurry,  at  the  last  moment, 
to  Hallowell,  Miss  M.  was  feeling  so  badly,  and  that 
he  had  shouted  back  to  Mr.  Sherman  to  send  down  for 
him.  So  as  your  Father  and  Mr.  H.  were  by  this 
time  deep  in  a  discussion  over  the  next  issue  of 
Honest  Truth,  I  determined  to  take  advantage  of 
the  carriage  and  have  a  drive,  so  behold  me  rattling 
down,  beneath  the  fiercest  rage  of  that  ten  o'clock 
sun,  in  my  white  sacque  and  old  silk  skirt,  sheltered 
only  by  a  parasol,  while  Fred  in  front  bent  forward 
to  meet  the  heat  half-way,  as  lovingly  as  a  fire- 
worshipper.  We  found  Emmons  comfortably  seated 
in  the  shade  of  one  of  the  piers  of  the  bridge,  his  red 
stockings  alone  distinguishing  him  from  the  common 
tramp.  All  the  women  of  the  little  house  opposite 
were  engaged  in  watching  him,  and  if  it  had  been 
anybody  but  my  own  son,  I  should  say  he  was  winking 

[  "8  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

at  them,  but  I  suppose  no  son  of  mine  would  be  guilty 
of  such  vulgarity.  I  was  pleased  enough  to  find  that 
it  was  not  the  doldrums  on  your  part,  but  carelessness 
on  his,  which  had  sent  him  kiting  to  Hallowell,  and 
oh,  was  it  not  lucky  that  Providence  sent  his  fingers 
into  his  pocket  to  feel  the  trunk  cheque,  to  impell  him 
to  swing  himself  onto  that  rear  car,  before  it  was  too 
late  to  get  it  into  your  keeping !  Who  after  this  will 
say  that  Providence  does  not  interest  itself  in  small 
things?  Well,  good-bye.  All  things  are  as  they  were. 
I  am  writing  at  the  old  desk  of  blessed  Congressional 
memory,  and  through  the  open  window  come  from 
the  library  the  dulcet  tones  of  Joseph  Manley,  the 
undertow  of  Bigelow,  the  careful  intonations  of  Mr. 
Hale,  your  Father's  powerful  thread,  Tom's  inter- 
rogations, as  he  keeps  the  thread  of  the  letters  he  is 
answering,  and  the  smoke  of  Emmons'  cigarette.  I 
have  been  into  the  dining  room  and  have  selected  a 
tablecloth  for  dinner,  my  one  effort  at  good  form  in 
housekeeping,  and  now  comes  H.  dressed  for  the  picnic 
in  one  of  her  beloved  calicoes,  to  see  if  she  can  wade. 
(Do  say  yes,  Mama,  —  it  will  break  my  heart  to  have 
to  stand  on  the  shore  and  see  Tuly  going  in.)     Most 

affectionately, 

H  S  B 


[  149  ] 


LETTERS    OF 


Augusta  August  3rd  1879, 
Sunday  noon 

My  deab,  M.,  —  We  are  just  home  from  doing  the 
honors  of  the  Arsenal  and  the  Hospital  to  Mr.  Henry 
Field,1  who  came  on  the  eight  o'clock  train,  com- 
ing down  from  Montreal  yesterday,  leaving  that  place 
at  7-%  in  the  morning.  For  five  weeks  he  has  been 
salmon  fishing  on  the  river  of  Mr  Stephens,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Montreal  Bank.  He  is  as  brown  as  a 
nut,  and  came  on  with  all  the  fishing  rods  that  the 
fashion  of  the  time  demands.  I  need  not  say  that  he 
is  exactly  our  old  Washington  friend,  in  the  new 
setting  of  Augusta.  Tomorrow,  he  and  Emmons 
leave  for  Mt  Desert,  via  Portland.  He  looked  all 
around  the  church  in  search  of  a  face  pretty  enough 
for  Emmons,  with  a  mental  reservation  for  himself, 
I  dare  say,  but  saw  none  worthy  of  his  heart.  And 
in  fact,  our  congregation  did  present  rather  an  un- 
usually unattractive  exterior.  The  Free  Will  Bap- 
tists had  emptied  themselves  into  the  pews,  but  that 
did  not  improve  matters,  and  after  Mr  F.  had  allowed 

his    eyes    to    wander    from    Mrs    C 's    and    Mrs 

F 's  mourning,  there  was  only  Deacon  Hallett's 

pew   within    the   range    of   his    vision.      The   music 

1  Mr.  Henry  Field  of  Chicago. 
[  150  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

was  good,  as  it  was  rendered  by  Pinkham,  but  the 
preacher !  He  was  unbearable.  It  was  humiliating 
to  find  yourself  sitting  under  his  voice.  He  was 
aggravatingly  handsome,  and  posed  before  us,  in  a 
thousand  attitudes  to  show  off  his  physique.  May 
I  never  hear  of  or  see  him  again! 

Your  Father  got  home  at  two  this  morning,  very 
tired  and  perhaps  a  little  cross.  He  had  a  fine  meet- 
ing at  Saco,  his  prominent  auditor  being  Orville 
Baker,1  who  turned  up  from  Old  Orchard,  in  attend- 
ance on  Mabel  Boardman,  Mr.  Phelps's  2  niece,  you 
know,  and  Alice's  school  friend.  And  this  morn- 
ing's mail  brought  Emmons  a  very  nice  letter  from 
Mr.  Ellis,  which  proves  a  grateful  supplement  to 
your  postal,  and  I  think  of  you  to-day,  resting 
and  cooling  in  Detroit,  and  embarking  on  the  Lake, 
with  a  satisfaction  I  could  not  call  up  yesterday,  as 
I  imagined  you  flying  over  the  torrid  belt  of  central 
New  York. 


1  Orville  Dewey  Baker  of  Augusta,  Attorney-General  of  Maine, 
1885-88;  died  1908. 

2  (Sometimes  referred  to  in  the  Letters  as  William  Walter,  or 
W.  W.  P.)  William  Walter  Phelps  of  New  Jersey  represented  the 
Englewood  District  in  Congress  in  1873-75  and  1883-89;  was 
United  States  Minister  to  Austria  in  1881-82,  to  Germany  1889-93; 
lay  judge  of  the  Court  of  Errors  and  Appeals  of  New  Jersey,  and 
represented  America  at  the  Samoan  Conference  in  Berlin  in  1889. 
He  died  at  Teaneck,  N.  J.,  1894. 

[  151  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

6:30.  Emmons,  your  Father,  Mr.  Reed,1  and  Mr. 
Field,  —  you  see  I  do  not  pay  much  attention  to 
precedence  —  have  just  started  on  a  drive,  your 
Father  holding  the  reins.  As  Mr.  Reed  is  on  the  back 
seat,  imagine  the  way  in  which  his  eyes  will  wander 
from  those  horses.  And  H.  has  just  come  driv- 
ing into  the  yard  with  Fred,  who  has  been  up  to 
Aunt  Emily's  for  cake,  and  who  now  has  gone  to 
take  his  little  Emily  to  drive.  And  I  have  got 
through  the  afternoon  by  taking  a  nap  on  my  sofa, 
by  a  pitcher  of  lemonade  under  the  trees,  by  a  chap- 
ter or  two  in  Our  Mutual  Friend,  and  best  and  last 
of  all,  by  a  telegram  which  that  dearest  and  best  of 
youths,  Philip  Ely,  has  sent  me  from  Detroit.  It 
seems  as  though  I  had  been  in  your  visible  presence, 
and  it  has  done  me  a  world  of  good.  Excepting  the 
telegram,  the  afternoon  has  been  rather  flat. 

H  SB 

Augusta,  August  5th  1879 
Tuesday  10: 30  a.  m. 

My  dear  M.,  —  I  am  just  through  with  a  great 
scare,  it  is  this,  it  is  this !  Your  Father  had  a  note 
from  Mrs.  L  this  morning,  to  the  intent  that  she 
and  Mrs  F  would  pass  through  town  on  their  way 
from  Mt  Desert  and  would  be  glad  to  see  him  at 

1  Thomas  B.  Reed  of  Maine,  afterwards  Speaker  of  the  House. 

[  152] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

the  station.     Of  course  he  went  down  all  prepared 
to  bring  them  back  with  him,  but  luckily   for  me, 
Mr.    C,   Mrs.   L.'s   father,   is   due   this   morning,   so 
I  had  the  satisfaction  inexpressible,  as  I  was  watch- 
ing   stealthily    from    the    sitting    room    window,    to 
see  your  Father  driven  up   in   state   by  Frederick, 
but  no  lovely  bonnets  or  feminine  hats  brightening 
the  void  at  his  side.     For  the  heat  is  intense,  and  to 
sit  through  all  the  hours  of  this  scorching  day,  in 
one  of  my  many  black  dresses,  not  thoroughly  inter- 
ested   for    one    moment,    but    wearisomely    polite   in 
every  one,  seems,  now  that  I  know  it  will  not  have  to 
be,  more  than  I  could  bear.     Old  Caroline  too  has  a 
reprieve.     The  family  consists  of  your  parents,  Alice, 

Jamie  and  H ,  and  Mr  Sherman.     Life  has  lost 

all  its  flavor.  I  cannot  eat.  I  have  dyspepsia,  and 
as  a  consequence  everything  is  stale,  flat  and  un- 
profitable. My  state  of  mind  is  perfectly  senseless 
as  you  will  discover,  but  it  is  due  to  the  stomach,  not 
the  heart,  so  I  will  not  apologize  for  it.  And  I  have 
had  another  letter  from  Mr.  Bishop,1  and  the  Bishops 
will  not  stop  on  their  way  to  Moosehead,  but  on  their 
return.  I  am  so  glad  for  Emmons,  who  went  away, 
feeling  that  he  was  hardly  doing  the  fair  thing  by 
me  to  run  away  just  as  they  were  coming. 

1  William  Darius  Bishop,  Member  of  Congress  from  Connecticut, 
and  president  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  It.  It. 

[  153  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

The  same  mail  which  brought  Mrs.  L's  note, 
brought  me  a  letter  from  Mr.  Ely  at  Rochester, 
—  thank  him  for  it,  and  ask  him  to  send  me  word 
what  of  his  wardrobe  was  left  behind,  and  I  will  have 
it  looked  up,  if  it  still  lingers  in  the  land  of  the  leal, 
of  which  I  have  doubts,  as  Emmons  wTas  obliged  to 
start  for  Bar  Harbor  yesterday  with  one  of  his  own 
handkerchiefs,  one  of  his  Father's  and  one  of  Jamie's. 
Their  united  wardrobes  could  only  furnish  the  three. 

Saturday  August  9th.  I  have  no  idea,  my  sweet- 
est daughter,  what  is  already  written  on  this  paper 
as  it  has  been  laid  aside  for  days,  but  no  good  thing 
is  to  be  lightly  flung  aside,  so  I  resume  on  its  unoc- 
cupied space,  and  proceed  at  once  to  tell  you  that  it 
is  Saturday  afternoon,  and  warm  though  not  too 
warm,  and  that  I  am  alone  in  the  parlor,  and  that 
Aunt  Emily  in  solitary  state  is  in  the  library,  and 
Aunt  Caddy  in  Alice's  room,  and  Aunt  Susan  is 
driving  Alice  up  to  Mr.  Farwell's.  Mr.  Frye  1  was 
here  to  breakfast  —  he  came  yesterday  afternoon  and 
spoke  in  the  evening.  I  went  to  hear  him  and  was 
quite  captivated.  He  and  your  Father  have  now  gone 
to  Mt.  Vernon,  driving  over.  They  are  to  reach 
home  about  nine,  and  Mr  Frye  drives  over  to  Lewis- 

1  William  Pierce  Frye,  at  this  time  Member  of  Congress  from 
Maine;  later  he  succeeded  Mr.  Blaine  in  the  Senate. 

[  154] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

ton  in  the  morning.  Just  before  they  got  away, 
Mr  Hale  turned  up,  dined  with  us,  and  now  he  has 
left  for  Norridgewock,  and  Tom  Sherman  too  has 
gone  off,  so  were  it  not  for  the  Aunts,  the  two 
Harriets  would  represent  the  state. 

Augusta,  August  13th  1879 
Wednesday  afternoon. 

My  dear  M.,  —  This  letter  will  treat  of  the  Hon. 
Zachariah  Chandler.  He  arrived  yesterday  morning 
at  ten,  and  as  he  came  up  the  steps  Mr.  Bodwell,1 
whom  I  never  expected  to  regard  with  feelings  of 
lively  gratitude,  appeared  to  invite  him  to  Hallowell 
to  inspect  the  granite  works  there.  It  is  so  unusual 
for  me  to  receive  any  assistance  in  the  entertainment 
of  a  visitor,  that  my  first  feeling  when  I  saw  them  a 
few  minutes  later,  driving  off  together,  was,  that  I 
had  been  defrauded.  Interrupted  by  a  call  from  Her- 
bert Davis,  who  is  in  Augusta,  writing  up  his  uncle's 
affairs,  and  who  I  sincerely  hope  will  write  himself 
into  his  uncle's  will.  Emmons  invited  him  to  come 
down  to-morrow  to  play  tennis,  and  I  supplemented 
the  invitation  with  another  from  myself  to  take  tea. 
To  revert  to  Mr.  Chandler  —  he  has  gone ;  he  went  at 
ten  this  morning,  or  rather  at  nine,  as  at  that  hour 
Emmons  took  him  over  to  see  the  Lambard  mansion. 

1  Joseph  Robinson  Bodwell  of  Hallowell,  Governor  of  Maine  1887; 
died  in  office  on  December  15th  of  that  year. 

[  155  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

I  went  to  Granite  Hall  last  night  to  hear  him,  and 
sat  directly  behind  Julia  Armitage.  She  has  grown 
into  a  most  beautiful,  graceful  girl,  quite  a  young 
lady.  Mrs.  Baldwin  and  Mrs.  Johnson,  her  aunts, 
had  been  over  in  the  afternoon  to  call  on  Mr.  Chand- 
ler, and  were  at  the  hall,  so  we  all  sat  on  the  plat- 
form together.  Now,  I  am  just  up  from  down  town, 
and  Millie  is  putting  supper  on  the  table,  so  I  hurry. 
Aunt  Emily  is  here.  She  has  come  down  to  see  if 
Alice  and  H  will  go  to  Squirrel  Island  to-morrow,  and 
they  are  going  and  I  have  asked  Maud  and  Bess  to  go 
too,  and  they  have  accepted,  and  I  have  bought  a  new 
lunch  basket  and  bananas  and  peaches  and  pears,  and 
five  cents  worth  of  caramels,  and  a  bottle  of  blacking, 
and  elastic,  —  was  there  ever  a  picnic  when  I  did  not 
have  to  buy  hat  elastic  ?  —  and  blueberries  for  tea. 

And  Mr.  Chandler  says  fish  pudding  is  a  Michigan 
dish,  so  perhaps  it  was  Ellsworth  that  borrowed,  and 
not  Marquette.  At  any  rate,  we  had  a  very  nice 
one  for  dinner  to-day,  only  there  was  no  one  to  eat 
it,  nor  the  broiled  chicken  which  came  after.  I  could 
not  even  venture  on  my  usual  wing,  greatly  to  Em- 
mons's disgust,  who  declared  his  own  appetite  affected 
by  my  lack  of  sympathy,  and  there  was  no  one  but 
Tom  to  help  out,  as  Father  came  on  the  four  o'clock 
train  from  Vassalboro',  having  had  a  charming  day 
on  his  travels,  spending  two  hours  at  Brunswick. 

[  15S  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Altogether  he  had  quite  a  splendid  time,  and  when 
he  got  onto  the  train  there  were  Judge  Rice  and  Mrs., 
returning  ignobly  by  rail  from  Rockland,  for  the 
party  which  left  Augusta  so  gaily  in  coach  and  four, 
as  one  might  say,  only  got  as  far  as  Rockland.  There 
the  cream-colored  ponies  fell  sick,  there  also  Judge 
Rice  lay  down,  Mrs  Rice  also,  and  Mrs  Goodwin,  and 
yesterday  Mrs  G.  drove  home  all  the  "  teams,"  and 
the  patriarch  of  the  tribe  came  to-day  with  his  wife, 
very  bright  and  very  happy  to  find  himself  travelling 
in  orthodox  fashion.  Emmons  came  on  the  Pullman 
at  2  o'clock  yesterday  morning.  As  usual  I  got  up 
and  unfastened  the  door,  then  went  to  his  room  to 
find  that  Maggie  Nurse  had  forgotten  to  light  it 
and  remove  his  shams.  By  the  way,  the  Honorable 
Zachariah  took  an  afternoon  nap  on  his  yesterday, 
and  a  shocking  sight  they  are  to-day.  So  I  amused 
myself  by  repairing  Maggie  Nurse's  neglect,  then 
went  to  bed  again  till  five,  when  I  got  up  to  get  up 
your  Father,  who  at  six  left  for  Vassalboro\  With 
great  devotion  and  difficulty  I  got  him  down  stairs 
in  season  to  make  a  comfortable  breakfast,  when  I 
delightedly  passed  him  and  his  bag  and  his  winter 
overcoat  and  Emmons's  summer  one,  and  his  own 
alpaca,  into  Frederick's  hands,  who  speedily  but  with 
much  anguish  for  the  old  phaeton,  conveyed  him  to 
the  station.    But  I  am  forgetting  Mr  Chandler.     He 

[  157] 


LETTERS    OF 

is  my  text.  He  made  a  very  good  speech  indeed, 
though  when  Joseph  Manley  at  the  table  just  now 
said  that  he  gave  the  best  illustration  of  the  bond- 
holder he  had  ever  heard,  your  Father  declared  he 
took  it  bodily  from  a  speech  he  made  last  fall  in 
Detroit. 

Augusta,  August  14th  1879 
My  deab,  M.,  —  Here  I  am  sitting  up  in  my  best 
black  summer  dress,  which  however  is  fast  taking  on 
a  shining  face,  preparatory  to  a  tea  drinking  with 
Herbert  Davis,  but  alas !  instead  of  a  long  table 
where  face  answers  to  face,  all  up  and  down  the 
sides,  only  us  four  and  no  more,  will  sit  down  to 
our  fried  chicken  to-night;  for  at  six  this  morning 
Alice  and  H  got  off  to  Squirrel  Island,  and  a  time 
we  had  to  get  them  off,  as  we  slept  till  five  and  a  half, 
and  there  were  Maud  and  Bess  and  Alice  Farwell  and 
Aunt  Emily  to  collect  on  the  way. 

Emmons  alone  has  represented  the  junior  part  of 
the  Blaine  family,  and  has  most  agreeably  fulfilled 
the  function,  correcting  proof  for  Honest  Truth, 
reading,  endorsing  and  sending  telegrams,  borrowing 
my  last  V  to  send  to  John  Goodenow,  of  whom  he  had 
borrowed  one  at  Old  Orchard,  tearing  down  town  a 
dozen  times  for  his  Father,  carving  a  mighty  sirloin 
of  roast  beef  for  dinner,  the  knife  so  sharp  it  went 

[  153] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

into  it  like  butter,  to  use  his  own  words  —  for  I  have 
myself  bought  a  whetstone  and  instructed  Millie  in 
its  use,  and  I  only  wish  Philip  Ely  of  blessed  memory 
were  here  to  use  the  carver,  —  playing  billiards  every 
minute  in  which  your  Father  found  a  minute  to  whistle 
"  For  he  might  have  been  a  Prussian  "  and  to  hold  a 
cue,  and  finally  getting  your  Father  to  the  station 
with  his  three  coats  and  his  bag  —  though  I  packed 
the  bag,  and  Maggie  Nurse  collected  the  coats,  and 
Millie  and  Maggie  and  Tom  and  Emmons  and  I  all 
j  oined  in  the  search  for  the  hat,  which  finally,  retain- 
ing its  crown  and  rim,  when  any  respectable  hat 
would  have  given  up  the  ghost,  was  found  under  all 
the  newspapers  and  all  the  books,  having  evidently 
been  used  all  day  for  a  cushion  by  every  sitter  down 
in  the  library.  I  hovered  on  the  outskirts  to  bid  him 
good-bye,  afraid  to  come  recklessly  to  the  front  lest 
he  should  want  some  money,  and  I  have  only  three 
silver  quarters  in  my  dear  little  purse,  that  cunning 
little  leather  pouch  which  Jamie  gave  me,  and,  M.,  I 
have  drawn  so  much  money  this  month,  how  can  any- 
one who  never  listens  to  or  enters  into  a  detail,  under- 
stand it?  But  M.  is  off  on  her  travels,  and  Jamie  on 
his,  and  Emmons  has  been,  and  Alice  and  H  to-day, 
and  from  the  grain  that  feeds  the  horses  to  the  butter 
that  spreads  the  bread,  I  pay  for  everything.  I  often 
think  I  am  the  heart,  I  feed  the  arteries,  I  fill  the 

[  159  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

veins,  if  I  stop  pulsating  it  is  death,  for  debt  is  death. 
But  Father  is  gone,  and  I  have  my  siller,  and  all  day 
it  has  rained  in  showers,  and  though  Emmons  is 
marking  out  his  tennis,  an  immense  cloud  is  lowering 
exactly  over  the  lawn. 


Sunday  afternoon  August  17th,  1879. 

My  dear  M.,  —  I  have  but  a  moment  in  which  to 
write.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hale  and  Clarence  are  here, 
and  Mr.  Smalley 1  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  and 
Dr  Updegraff 2  of  Iowa  have  been  here  to  dinner, 
which  is  just  over,  and  now  Emmons  has  gone  to 
sleep  in  his  chair,  with  one  of  his  dreadful  headaches. 
It  is  very  rainy  and  cold  —  two  furnace  and  two 
open  fires  attesting  to  the  truth  of  my  statement. 

Mrs  H,  Clarence,  Emmons,  H  and  I  went  to 
church  and  heard  Mr  Ecob  preach  an  admirable  ser- 
mon, and  I  have  stolen  into  the  annex  while  the  doctor 
prescribes  for  Clarence,  simply  to  tell  you  that  your 
Father  is  unalterably  opposed  to  Walker's  going  to 
Marquette.  I  presume  arrangements  can  and  will  be 
made  for  you  to  return  by  the  way  of  St  Paul,  and 
tomorrow,  I  intend  to  set  myself  vigorously  to  work, 
to  find  out  about  passes,  routes,  etc.,  and  shall  then 

1  E.  V.  Smalley,  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune. 

2  Thomas  Updegraff,  Republican  member  of  Congress  from  Iowa. 

[  160] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

send  the  result  of  my  investigations  to  you.  The 
Hales  leave  to-morrow  afternoon  and  the  Camerons 
come  next  Friday.  I  shall  be  really  delighted  to  see 
Philip  Ely  again  in  Augusta,  and  will  write  him  to 
say  so  myself.  Emmons  starts  off  speechmaking  in 
about  a  week. 

H  S  B 


To  Walker,  in  St.  Paul 

Augusta,  Aug.  18  1879,  Monday. 
My  dear  Walker,  —  M.  objects  to  her  letters 
going  through  St  Paul.  She  imagines  it  gives  them 
a  stale  flavor,  and  probably  they  are  not  as  appetiz- 
ing to  you  as  a  dish  prepared  for  your  own  palate. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  I  write  now  to  you  as  collectedly 
as  may  be,  with  Mr.  Davis1  (Governor)  and  Mr.  Bart- 
lett  in  the  room.  The  conversation  too  is  on  Maine 
politics,  that  most  interesting  and  discouraging  of 
topics,  for  here  are  the  Democrats  coming  into  the 
conventions  and  capturing  the  Greenbackers  in  vari- 
ous counties,  and  your  Father  so  occupied  that  after 
he  emerges  from  his  chamber  in  the  morning,  I  do 
not  require  nor  receive  so  much  civility  as  a  word 
from  him,  and  sometimes  I  am  so  deeply  disgusted 

1  Daniel  F.  Davis,  Governor  of  Maine  1879-80,  died  in  1897. 
VOL.1  —11  [    161    ] 


LETTERS    OF 

with  American  politics,  our  whole  system  of  popular 
government,  with  its  fever,  its  passion,  excitement, 
disappointment,  and  bitter  reaction,  that  any  sphere, 
however  humble,  which  gives  a  man  to  his  family, 
seems  to  me  better  than  the  prize  of  high  place. 
Mrs.  Hale  came  Friday  evening  with  your  Father, 
who  boarded  the  train  on  which  she  was,  not  at  Etna, 
but  at  Newport,  —  he  having  —  after  being  driven 
to  Etna  from  East  Corinth  —  procured  a  ride  for 
himself  on  a  handcar  to  Newport,  that  he  might  see 
Mr.  Dexter  about  the  old  wagon.  The  night  was 
dark,  and  first  he  lost  his  hat,  for  which  they  re- 
traced their  steps  some  half  mile,  and  then  his  bag 
was  found  missing,  and  for  this  they  went  back  two 
miles,  but  found  it  not ;  but  the  next  morning  at  ten 
the  express  delivered  it,  much  the  worse  for  its  travels, 
the  Pullman  having  gone  over  it.  The  contents  were 
found  spilled  along  the  side  of  the  track.  One  shirt 
was  cut  all  to  pieces,  the  toilet  apparatus  was  never 
found,  and  the  bag  was  ruined.  But  it  never  seemed 
to  enter  his  dear  head  that  the  escapade  was  a  risky 
and  foolish  one  and  not  to  be  expected  from  a  man  of 
his  habits.  And  although  he  saw  Mr.  D.,  he  forgot  to 
ask  the  price  at  which  the  wagon  was  sold,  so  we  are 
in  as  much  uncertainty  as  ever.  Clarence  came  from 
Portland  and  spent  Saturday  with  us,  stopping  in 
Gardiner  to  hear  Eugene  speak  that  morning,  and 

[  162  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Emmons  drove  down  after  tea  in  the  darkness  and 
rain,  carrying  along  Mr.  Updegraff.  Do  you  know 
who  he  is?  And  at  eleven  or  shortly  after,  they  all 
arrived  at  this  hospitable  mansion,  where  a  couple  of 
bottles  of  champagne  and  a  good  supper  helped  out 
the  welcome  which  was  awaiting  them. 

While  at  breakfast  yesterday,  Mr.  Smalley's  card 
of  the  N.  Y.  Tribune  was  sent  in.  Your  Father  was 
not  up,  but  Emmons  saw  him  and  told  him  where  to 
go  to  church  and  invited  him  to  dinner  at  two.  The 
day  was  dreadfully  rainy,  but  Mrs  H,  Clarence, 
Emily,  H,  and  I,  braved  the  discomfort  of  a  wet  ride 
for  the  sake  of  hearing  Mr.  Ecob,  who  gave  us  a 
delightful  sermon.  And  then  we  came  home  to  find 
your  Father  still  in  bed,  where  he  stayed  till  dinner 
time,  when  he  got  up  and  came  down  to  enact  the 
host  in  his  most  delightful  manner,  carving,  talking, 
making  welcome  in  his  own  inimitable  way,  till  Mr. 
Smalley  only  tore  himself  away  to  write  his  letter  to 
the  Tribune  (which  I  hope  will  be  good  reading  to 
you  some  morning  in  the  St.  Paul  Gazette)  coming 
back  to  tea,  while  Mr.  Updegraff  made  no  pretence 
of  going,  but  stayed  right  on  till  eleven  o'clock. 
Mrs.  Milliken  came  to  tea  and  sang  hymns  and  Pina- 
fore   all  evening. 

Clarence  went  this  morning,  and  your  Father  and 
Updegraff  and  Smalley  and  Gov.  Davis  to  Winthrop 

[  163] 


LETTERS    OF 

at  one,  first  having  a  hearty  dinner  here,  and  then 
at  four  Mr.  H.  left  for  Waterville,  and  it  has  rained 
and  rained  and  rained ;  and  now,  at  eleven  in  the  even- 
ing, Emmons  has  just  gone  for  Mr  Hale,  and  the 
Winthrop  team  has  returned  and  they  have  all  had 
supper  here ;  and  now  with  the  heavens  opening  and 
the  floods  descending,  Emmons  returns,  bringing  Mr 
Hale  and  followed  by  Dow  bringing  up  Mr.  Dobson 
and  Mr.  Campbell,  who  are  to  go  back  on  the  Pullman 
and  who  will  spend  the  intervening  hours  in  the 
library.  The  Camerons  are  coming  next  Friday.  I 
am  glad  this  dreadful  rainfall  will  be  over  before 
they  come. 


To  Miss  Dodge 

New  York,  November  9th,  1879. 
Here  I  am,  having  a  most  delightful  second  visit. 
Mr.  Blaine  is  with  me.  We  are  just  from  church, 
all  but  Mr.  Blaine,  who  spent  the  precious  hours  in 
which  I  was  learning  how  to  bring  up  a  family,  in 
writing  an  article,  as  many  pages  of  closely  covered 
manuscript  lying  on  the  table  testify ;  and  as  the 
children  are  too  old  to  be  now  set  in  other  grooves, 
perhaps  he  is  the  happier  for  not  being  made  to  see 
how  much  we  have  left  to  nature  and  to  Providence, 

[  1M] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

which  we  ought  as  parents  to  have  pursued  and 
trained.  Mr.  Blaine,  as  you  know,  is  in  the  best  of 
health  and  spirits,  while  Grant  is  booming  along,  and 
welcome,  if  I  were  the  only  one  to  be  consulted. 


To  Emmons 

Augusta,  November  21st,  1879. 

This  is  one  of  my  tavern  weeks  —  the  board  being 
spread  for  all  who  come.  The  Republican  crowd 
melted  away  by  Wednesday,  Mr.  Reed  going  that 
day  at  noon.  The  last  news,  or  report  of  the 
situation,  is  the  convening  of  the  Superior  Court  at 
Augusta,  Monday,  the  Chief  Justice  in  the  chair  — 
though  that  is  not  the  name  of  his  seat. 

Your  Father  is  in  the  best  of  spirits,  though  what 
is  to  be  the  end  of  this  audacity  *  no  one  knows.  He 
expects  now  to  leave  town  Sunday,  though  I  do  not 
believe  he  can.  George  Weeks  and  Mr  Sprague  are 
now  in  consultation  with  him  in  the  library.  Have 
you  an  overcoat  for  Mr.  Brown?  If  you  have  not, 
I  shall  be  under  the  painful  necessity  of  giving  him 

1  Referring  to  the  famous  "State  Steal,"  an  effort  made  by  the 
Democrats  to  count  in  fraudulently  their  candidate,  Alonzo  H.  Garce- 
lon,  as  governor,  instead  of  Daniel  F.  Davis,  the  rightfully  elected 
candidate. 

[  165] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

a  new  one,  as  I  cannot  see  him  drive  in  your  Father's 
old  blue  flannel.  Is  the  heavy  overcoat  hanging  here 
yours,  and  shall  I  give  it?  It  looks  too  handsome. 
Caroline  has  cooked  250  chickens  since  July,  and  is 
now  beginning  on  turkeys.  She  is  more  to  be  dreaded 
than  the  foxes,  which  have  killed  off  all  the  Caldwell 
turkeys,  on  which  I  always  depend  for  Christmas. 
My  pen  will  not  permit  of  further  writing,  but  my 
love  knows  no  limitations. 


t  166] 


1  880 


"As  the  presidential  convention  of  1880  approached,  it  was 
apparent  that  Mr.  Blaine  retained  the  same  support  that  had  adhered 
to  him  so  tenaciously  four  years  before.  The  contest  developed  into 
an  earnest  and  prolonged  struggle  between  his  friends  and  those  who 
advocated  a  third  term  for  General  Grant.  The  convention,  one  of 
the  most  memorable  of  American  history,  lasted  through  six  days  and 
there  were  thirty-six  ballots.  On  the  first  the  vote  stood :  Grant  304, 
Blaine  284,  Sherman  93,  Edmunds  34,  Washburne  30,  Windom  10, 
Garfield  1.  On  the  final  ballot  the  friends  of  Blaine  and  Sherman 
united  for  General  Garfield,  who  received  399  votes  to  306  for  Grant, 
and  was  nominated.  On  his  election,  Mr.  Blaine  was  tendered  and 
accepted  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State." 

Appleton's  Encyclopaedia  of  American  Biography. 

Mr.  Blaine  remained  in  Washington,  though  he  was  urged  to  be 
present  at  the  convention  in  person,  and  his  telegram  turning  over  his 
two  hundred  and  fifty  delegates  to  Garfield  gave  the  latter  his  nomina- 
tion. Before  election  President  Garfield  appointed  Mr.  Blaine 
Secretary  of  State.  In  his  letter  of  acceptance,  December  10th,  1880, 
Mr.  Blaine  wrote:  "I  wish  you  would  say  to  Mrs.  Garfield  that  the 
knowledge  that  she  desires  me  in  your  Cabinet  is  more  valuable  to  me 
than  even  the  desire  of  the  President-elect  himself.  Indeed,  I  would 
not  think  of  going  into  the  Cabinet  at  all  if  Mrs.  Garfield  was  not 
friendly  and  favorable.    Please  read  this  letter  to  her  and  her  alone." 


To  M.,  at  Farmixgton 

Fifth  Avenue  Hotel 

New  York,  May  15th,  1880 

Saturday  evening 

Dear  M.,  —  Your  Father  is  dining  out  with  Mr. 
Reid,1  who  has  a  dinner  party,  and  I,  after  taking 
mine  with  Mr.  Hale,  who  has  since  left  for  Boston, 
find  myself  alone  in  the  most  untidy  room  in  New 
York.  I  have  picked  up  and  picked  up,  till,  hope- 
less of  improvement,  I  now  sit  surrounded  by  bundles, 
cards,  newspapers,  letters,  wardrobe,  and  everything 
else  pertaining  to  hotel  life  of  a  week's  duration. 
The  mantel  is  decorated  with  a  long  line  of  bouquets, 
some  of  them  faded  and  some  of  them  fresh,  and  all 
depending  in  more  or  less  drunken  attitudes  from 
various  tumblers.  Bandboxes  adorn  the  sofa,  my 
shawl  and  your  Father's  overcoat  occupy  two  chairs, 
his  brown  gaiters  are  on  the  what-not,  a  long  rock 
of  granite,  which  has  been  bored  out  from  under  this 
hotel,  adorns  one  corner,  three  parasols,  one  mine, 
one  Alice's,  and  one  a  broken  down  thing  belonging 
to  one  of  Muscovite's  &  Russell's  women,  the  three 
others.  A  likeness  of  the  candidate,  for  which  I  have 
had  to  pay  a  V,  looks  down  darkly  from  among  the 

1  Whitelaw  Reid  of  New  York,  editor  of  New  York  Tribune; 
Minister  to  France  and  present  Ambassador  to  Great  Britain. 

[  169] 


LETTERS    OF 

flowers,  and  string  and  wrapping  paper  and  the 
press  of  New  York  meet  the  tired  eye,  turn  it  where 
it  will.  This  afternoon  I  have  been  to  the  matinee  to 
see  Neilsen  in  "  As  You  Like  It." 

Sunday:  The  Chandler  party  put  an  end  to  my 
writing  last  night,  and  now  just  home  from  Dr  Col- 
lier's church,  I  will  add  a  line  to  say  good-bye.  I 
have  had  a  good  time  in  New  York,  but  now  am 
anxious  to  go  back.  Probably,  however,  we  shall 
stay  till  Wednesday.  I  do  not  know  what  to  say 
to  you  about  the  week  of  the  Convention  and  com- 
ing home.  I  wish  you  would  conclude  yourself  to 
stay.  I  am  almost  sure  a  combination  will  be  made 
against  your  Father,  and  then  I  would  rather  you 
were  in  Farmington.  You  must  write  to  your  Father 
personally  and  let  him  decide.  I  have  thought  lately 
he  would  get  it,  but  now  I  am  very  doubtful.  His 
rivals  are  desperate. 

With  love, 

H  S  B 


(Fragment) 

Mr.  Sherman  was  waked  by  messenger  from  the 
telegraph  office,  who  told,  from  the  sidewalk  below, 
that  there  was  great  excitement  in  Chicago,  and  they 

[  170] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

thought  Mr.  Blaine  ought  to  know  it.  They  had 
been  up  once  and  found  it  impossible  to  rouse  any- 
body ;  "  the  incidental  mention  of  Blaine's  name  by 
a  Californian  roused  gallery  and  convention  to  wild 
cheering  for  five  minutes."  Then  Mr.  Hale  tele- 
graphs :  "  The  Grant  men  made  a  point  of  seeing 
who  could  howl  loudest  and  longest,  and  cheered  and 
hurrahed  and  waved  flags  for  fifteen  minutes  —  Con- 
kling  himself  condescending  to  wave.  After  they 
had  tired  themselves  out,  the  Blaine  men  took  it  up 
and  shouted  twenty  minutes."  Mr.  Hale  says  the 
Grant  men  got  enough  of  it.  Four  of  their  tallest 
men  mounted  on  settees  and  Hale  mounted  on  their 
shoulders  and  waved  the  flag,  expecting  every  minute, 
he  said,  that  he  should  fall  and  break  his  neck.  Think 
of  the  position  for  a  man  who  is  not  an  acrobat! 
Meanwhile  Mr.  Blaine  went  off  to  bed  dead  sleepy, 
and  is  this  morning  reading  the  papers  with  pro- 
voking indifference.  He  is  not,  of  course,  indifferent, 
but  he  is  self-possessed,  and  when  I  heard  him  talk- 
ing yesterday,  with  all  the  force  and  fire  of  the 
Senate,  I  thought  it  was  a  pity  to  take  him  away 
from  the  Senate  after  all.  Mr.  Chandler  telegraphs, 
as  things  are  now  he  considers  the  chances  of  Mr. 
Blaine's  nomination  as  4  to  1,  but  not  to  be  counted 
on  till  it  comes. 

[171] 


I 


LETTERS    OF 

To  Emmons,  at  the  Harvard  Law  School 

Augusta,  June  27th,  1880. 

Deah  Emmons,  —  You  cannot  imagine  how  de- 
lighted I  was  to  get  your  letter  this  morning,  as  I 
have  become  really  anxious  to  hear  from  you.  For 
do  you  know,  this  is  the  first  line  you  have  sent  me 
since  I  reached  home. 

Orville  Baker  and  Joseph  Manley  have  just  gone 
from  here,  where  the  former  has  taken  tea.  I  wish 
to  take  advantage  of  the  Pullman  which  to-night  com- 
mences its  Sunday  trips,  and  get  you  to  do  me  a 
favor  or  two.  First,  will  you  see  what  you  can  get 
a  little  pony  carriage  for?  I  do  not  mean  a  donkey 
cart,  but  a  little  phaeton  or  something  of  that  kind, 
also  a  saddle  and  a  harness.  H's  pony  came  last 
night,  and  is  the  dearest  little  thing  you  ever  saw, 
perfectly  docile  and  without  a  flaw,  four  years  old, 
and  will  weigh,  I  think,  about  500  lbs.  If  you  will 
find  out  the  several  costs,  I  will  decide  how  far  I 
think  I  can  go.  H.  is  in  ecstasy  over  him,  and 
Jamie  has  been  leading  him  about  all  day,  calling 
with  him  on  Will  North  and  perambulating  the  back 
and  front  yard.  I  have  written  thanking  Mr  Cameron 
for  the  pony.  I  enclose  you  a  card  which  came  to 
you  from  the  Arsenal.  Alice  and  I  are  invited.  I 
have  no  idea  when  your  Father  will  turn  his  face  home- 

[  172  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

ward.  The  Hancock 1  nomination  makes  Garfield's 
prospects  problematical  in  the  extreme.  It  has  been 
very  hot  to-day.  I  enclose  a  letter  from  your  Father, 
though  I  have  somewhat  anticipated  its  contents.  I 
shall  be  delighted  to  see  you.     With  love, 

H.  S.  B. 

To  M.,  AT  Farmington 

Augusta,  October  19th  1880. 
Dear  M.,  —  Yesterday  in  anticipation  of  your 
Father's  return,  I  washed  up  all  the  pens,  cleaned  out 
all  the  inkstands,  and  laid  out  such  supplies  of  paper, 
envelopes,  stamps,  etc.,  as  our  limited  supply  of  sta- 
tionery would  permit.  All  this  I  did  on  the  hope 
and  supposition,  based  on  a  letter  written  almost  a 
week  ago,  that  he  would  be  home  Monday  afternoon. 
And  sure  enough,  while  we  were  at  dinner,  came  the 
telegram,  bearing  the  welcome  date  of  Portsmouth, 
so  at  3:35,  the  schedule  time  now  of  the  arriving 
afternoon  train,  Emmons  and  I  had  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  him  emerge,  bag  in  hand,  from  the  car, 
smiling  and  well,  and  full  of  enthusiasm  for  Garfield 
and  the  Republican  triumph.  Need  I  say,  that  we 
brought  him  home  with  banners  flying,  and  that  the 
Queen  of  hearts  flew  around  and  got  him  some  sup- 

1  Major-General   Winfield   Scott   Hancock,    U.   S.  A.,  was  the 
Democratic  candidate  for  President  in  1880. 

[  173] 


LETTERS    OF 

per,  or  dinner,  whichever  you  choose  to  call  it,  for 
he  had  spent  Sunday  at  Hamilton  and  had  been  sent 
away  on  eggs!  But  there!  Tread  lightly  on  poor 
Cousin  Abby's  ashes,  for  she  has  reason  to  sit  in 
them  herself,  having  made  the  mistake  of  criticising, 
in  public  letters,  the  course  of  the  Boston  Advertiser 
towards  the  Woman's  Deposit  Company,  and  here  it 
is,  all  broken  up  —  and  the  President  and  Cashier 
arrested,  the  money  lost,  and  the  principal  shown 
to  be  one  of  the  most  abandoned  wretched  adven- 
turers on  the  face  of  the  earth;  so  that  C.  A.'s 
name  seems  to  be  associated  in  the  minds  of  the  pub- 
lic, and  a  losing  public,  which  is  never  goodnatured, 
with  that  of  a  woman  viler  than  V.  W.,  and  it  is 
one  of  those  unfortunate  cases  which  no  one  can  help. 
To  sympathize  with  her,  is  to  pain  her  so  much, 
that  Father  all  the  time  he  was  there,  never  ventured 
to  speak  of  it. 

Emmons  is  to  go  to  Chicago  and  into  the  railroad 
business.  Will  enter  Mr.  Hughitt's  office.  Mr. 
Hughitt  is  the  General  Manager  of  the  N.W.R.R. 
and  Emmons  will  take  his  chance  in  showing  what  is 
in  him  —  if  good,  then  promotion,  if  no  aptitude, 
then  the  acceptance  of  that  humiliating  fact.  He 
was  to  go  the  first  of  November,  according  to  your 
Father's  plans,  but  as  he  has  accepted  an  invitation 
from  Lila  Cameron  to  be  usher  at  her  wedding  on 

[  174] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

the  18th  of  that  month,  he  will  not  enter  upon  his 
new  field  quite  so  soon.  If  he  could  only  make  up  his 
mind  to  stoop  and  bend  to  his  work,  I  should  have 
no  fears,  but  he  cannot  work  playfully  and  bring 
anything  to  pass,  which  reminds  me  of  yourself. 
In  doing,  there  is  great  reward.  I  cannot  imagine 
your  not  loving  to  study.  And  if  you  will  study, 
you  will  learn.  If  you  learn,  you  will  be  learned.  If 
I  could  only  have  known,  when  your  age,  the  high 
plane  on  which  I  should  deploy,  I  might  have  been 
the  equal  in  attainment  of  any  woman  in  Washing- 
ton, and  oh,  that  it  had  been  given  me  to  know  in 
that  my  day ! 

H  S  B 

Augusta  October  24th,  1880. 
Dear  M.,  —  How  are  you  and  how  have  you 
spent  your  Sunday?  This  is  how  it  has  spent  itself 
with  the  old  folks  at  home.  First,  a  good  breakfast, 
at  which  everyone  came  strolling  in  as  suited  him  or 
her  best.  Then  church,  which,  beginning  with  me, 
who  always  go,  rounded  up  with  Philip  and  Emmons 
and  Jamie,  Alice,  H.  and  your  Father.  Mr.  E. 
gave  us  an  old  sermon,  which,  never  good,  is  now 
poor,  and  then  we  picked  up  Aunt  Susan  and  made 
an  unsatisfactory  call  on  Green  Street,  and  then  came 

[  175  J 


LETTERS    OF 

down  to  all  the  brightness  and  warmth  and  good  fel- 
lowship of  home.  Orville  Baker  had  come  down  with 
Emmons  and  dined  with  us.  Need  I  say  that  the 
dinner  was  good?  And  your  Father  was  bright  and 
full  of  talk,  as  was  everybody  else,  and  after  a  while 
Emmons  and  Philip  started  in  the  buggy,  with  two 
robes  it  was  so  cold,  for  Gardiner,  nor  are  they  yet 
returned,  having  stayed  there  for  supper.  And  these 
familiar  exercises  have  been  varied  by  calls  from 
Bigelow,  Mr.  Manley  and  all  the  Manley  children. 

But  after  all,  we  are  not  exactly  gay.  Emmons 
is  sober  over  his  proposed  experiment  in  Chicago, 
and  Philip  is  going  away  Friday,  which  coming  de- 
parture seems  to  cast  its  shadow  before,  and  your 
Father  cannot  help,  at  odd  moments,  falling  back  into 
reveries  over  the  past  and  what  he  fancies  its  mis- 
takes, so  that  although  not  blue,  we  are  serious,  which 
is  better  than  being  frivolous.  I  have  not  a  word  of 
anything  like  news  to  tell  you,  and  I  know  I  ought 
to  fill  up  the  remainder  of  this  sheet  with  advice,  but 
will  you  not  consider  it  all  said?  You  know  that  it 
hurts  me  to  part  with  you,  and  why  I  do  it,  and  that 
the  habit  of  reading  and  study  and  fixing  the  atten- 
tion is  more  valuable  than  the  knowledge  you  will 
acquire  at  school,  though  that  is  something  worth, 
and  I  lay  on  you  the  burden. 

[  170] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Augusta  October  25th 
Dear  M.,  —  The  day  which  I  had  intended 
giving  to  Emmons'  night-shirts,  has  gone  to  his 
friends.  "  That  poor  boy,"  Maggie  Nurse  says, 
"  has  nothing  to  be  sick  in  if  he  should  be  taken," 
so  I  made  up  my  mind  early  this  morning  to  devote 
my  last  yard  of  Willimantic  to  him.  But  up  speaks 
the  telephone  and  Gardiner  calls  for  Emmons,  and 
he  listens,  and  then  I  hear  him  say,  "  All  right,  I  will 
meet  you  at  the  station.  We  shall  be  delighted." 
And  it  needs  not  my  prophetic  heart  to  tell  me  that 
we  shall  have  company  to  dine.  Yes,  Mrs.  Richards 
and  Miss  Thornton  will  come  up  in  the  dummy  to  dine 
and  to  drive,  and  I  must  hie  me  to  the  kitchen  and  to 
Caroline,  for  ducks  and  a  steak  are  not  enough  for 
hungry  visitors.  Here  is  my  bill  of  fare  —  Soup, 
roast  beef  et  cetera,  ducks,  celery  and  jelly,  apple 
pudding,  mince  and  apple  pies,  grapes  and  pears, 
coffee,  claret  and  champagne.  Everything  well 
cooked,  Emmons  carving  beautifully,  then  the  drive, 
Philip  of  course  making  the  fourth.  And  listen  to 
the  sequel,  they  all  came  back  to  supper !  And  now 
at  nine  they  have  just  left,  and  as  it  is  not  quite  bed- 
time, and  yet  I  am  not  in  the  mood  for  reading,  I 
thought  I  would  tell  you  all  about  it. 


VOL.  i  — 12 


[  177  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

Wednesday  evening,  October  27th  1880 
Dear  M.,  —  My  object  in  writing,  is  to  send 
you  a  nice  letter,  which  I  received  from  Walker  this 
afternoon.  His  first  letter  was  written  in  such  a 
homesick  mood,  I  could  not  bear  to  read  it,  and  just 
as  I  was  making  up  my  mind  to  write  him,  coun- 
selling him  not  to  stay  in  St.  Paul  unless  he  had  his 
own  entire  consent  to  it  for  a  residence,  he  tells  me 
he  is  glad  to  be  there,  but  I  found  Emmons  has 
carried  off  the  letter  to  Gardiner,  whither  he  and 
Philip  have  gone  on  one  of  their  frequent  visits, 
carrying  my  Chinese  lanterns,  my  tin  holders,  and 
relics  of  my  candles,  to  contribute  to  Mrs.  Richards' 1 
illumination.  The  day  after  our  illumination,  Mr 
Piper  came  to  me  to  see  if  I  would  let  him  have  some 
of  my  lanterns  to  send  to  Burnham.  He  had  received 
an  order  and  had  not  enough  in  his  store  to  fill  it, 
wanting  two  dozen.  So  I  sent  that  number  to  Burn- 
ham  with  my  compliments,  supposing  of  course  that 
they  were  to  light  up  a  Republican  celebration,  but 
they  contributed  to  a  Fusion  illumination,  as  the 
Argus  informs  me,  and  the  Burnham  managers  have 
also  sent  acknowledgments  to  me.     Is  n't  it  funny  ? 

1  Mrs.  Henry  Richards  of  Gardiner,  daughter  of  Julia  Ward  Howe, 
the  "Laura  E.  Richards"  who  has  delighted  the  hearts  of  so  many 
children. 

[  178] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

I  have  had  a  bad  headache  all  day,  but  am  now  almost 
free  from  it.  And  strange  to  say,  the  library  is  un- 
visited.  Your  Father  is  walking  up  and  down  the 
parlor,  while  H.  is  picking  out  on  the  piano  some 
of  her  old  Zeverley  pieces,  for  the  benefit  of  both  the 
Jamies.  Capt.  Boutelle  spent  last  night  with  us, 
leaving  this  afternoon ;  is  en  route  from  New  York, 
where  he  has  been  speaking.  We  are  quite  hopeful 
over  the  prospect  next  Tuesday,  and  I  will  try  to 
send  you  the  result. 

H  S  B. 


Dear  M.,  —  I  am  putting  up  your  box,  so  you 
must  be  content  with  a  line,  as  of  course  you  will, 
now  that  Garfield  and  Arthur  are  elected. 

Can  you  believe  that  the  long  vigil,  not  tongueless, 
is  over,  and  that  we  are  all  saved  for  four  years,  and 
I  hope  forty  times  four  ?  For  now  there  is  no  danger 
that  any  of  the  tomfoolery  of  the  Hayes  policy  will 
be  tried,  and  I  hope  there  are  no  sunken  rocks  to 
make  shipwreck  of  the  new  administration.  Your 
Father  and  I  have  picked  out  Garfield's  Cabinet  for 
him,  and  have  devoted  to  him  for  two  mornings  our 
waking,  but  not  risen,  hours.  Do  you  take  in 
that  the  House  is  Republican,  and  the  Senate  a 
tie,  which  gives  the  casting  vote  to  the  Republican 

[  179] 


LETTERS    OF 

V.P?  Oh,  how  good  it  is  to  win  and  to  be  on  the 
strong  side !  Your  Father  leaves  to-morrow  for  New 
York,  then  goes  Emmons  next,  and  Alice  to  Boston 
and  then  to  Washington.  I  am  glad  we  are  going 
early. 

H  S  B. 

Thursday  afternoon. 


Augusta,  November  11th,  1880 
Thursday  evening 

Dear  M.,  —  When  this  you  see,  think  of  me, 
all  alone  with  Jamie  and  H.  and  six  servants  to 
wait  on  us.  Emmons  and  Alice  are  to  leave  to-night 
on  the  Pullman,  and  it  adds  inconceivably  to  the 
dreariness  of  the  situation,  that  it  is  raining  in  tor- 
rents, and  Emmons,  bluer  than  ever,  has  just  gone 
down  in  the  rain  and  his  rubber  overcoat,  to  bid  good- 
bye to  the  Aunts,  who  are  already  perfectly  discon- 
solate. There  is  a  gleam  of  comfort  in  that,  for  being 
perfectly  disconsolate,  nothing  can  add  to  their 
weight  of  woe.  And  Alice,  having  put  off  her  farewell 
calls  and  her  blanket  for  the  Bradbury  baby  till  the 
last  moment,  is  trying  with  impatient  fingers  to 
stitch  pink  satin  ribbon  to  the  ends  of  one  and  her 
rubbers  to  her  own  extremities.  Excuse  this  hor- 
\  [  180  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

rible  sentence.  It  is  not  in  the  least  what  I  meant 
to  say. 

I  have  had  a  day,  and  my  poor  little  namesake,  too 
sleepy  to  sit  up,  is  afraid  to  go  to  bed  lest  no  one  will 
wake  her,  so  I  can  hear  her  discoursing  to  the  kitchen 
crowd,  with  whom  she  is  always  in  high  favor.  Your 
Father  is  still  away,  though  certain  to  return  Satur- 
day, and  with  him,  I  expect  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chandler, 
and  the  Hales  are  to  come  Saturday  morning,  so  I 
shall  certainly  have  numbers  on  Sunday.  But  I  am 
heart-broken  at  losing  Emmons.  He  ought  to  go,  but 
the  iron  enters  my  soul. 

Walker  writes  that  he  is  just  entering  on  his  law 
career,  has  his  office  and  a  partner.  I  do  not  know 
that  I  am  glad  that  he  has  the  latter,  though  he  him- 
self seems  much  pleased,  but  I  cannot  allow  myself  to 
be  anxious,  lest  I  break  down  under  my  varied  anx- 
ieties. I  wish  somebody  would  order  tomorrow's 
dinner  for  me !  Such  a  dreadful  time  as  we  had 
illuminating.  The  cannon  knocked  down  all  the 
candles,  and  there  were  my  pretty  carpets  and  floors 
all  splashed  with  wax.  Such  a  scene  of  devastation 
as  the  next  morning  showed!  Smoke  and  cracked 
glass,  candle  grease  over  everything,  nails  and  slats 
everywhere,  children  with  colds  and  cross  servants, 
and  a  billiard  room  full  of  unreturnable  lanterns, 
and  Garfield  and  his  wife  off  buying  tables  and  chairs ! 

[  181] 


) 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

Your  Father  has  heard  Bernhardt  and  pronounces 
her  splendid.  I  am  delighted  that  you  enjoyed  your 
Hartford  trip  and  that  your  dresses  suited.  Your 
watch  is  safe  in  my  bureau  drawer.  I  did  not  send 
your  hat  because  your  goodies  did  not  leave  room  in 
the  trunk.     With  love, 

HS  B 

Augusta  November  16th  1880 
Tuesday  afternoon 

Deae  M.,  —  Or  Emmons,  or  Walker,  or  Alice 
—  say,  which  shall  it  be,  for  all  are  dear,  and  all  are 
away.  When  did  I  write  any  of  you?  The  day  that 
Emmons  left,  last  Thursday,  was  n't  it?  Well,  he 
left  on  that  most  melancholy  evening,  and  most  mel- 
ancholy train,  the  evening  Pullman  at  eleven  o'clock, 
and  at  that  positive  and  still  not  culminating  hour 
of  the  night,  I  found  myself  alone  with  my  mem- 
ories and  anticipations,  and  Jamie,  H.  and  the 
servants. 

I  stayed  up  until  one  o'clock,  unable  to  resolve  to 
seek  a  sleepless  pillow.  Emmons  had  never  been  more 
tender  and  affectionate,  and  I  had  a  wellspring  of 
grief. 

Later:  I  shall  not  resume  the  thread  of  my  above 
discourse,  but  I  shall  try  another.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hale  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chandler  have  been  here 
spending  Sunday.     The  Hales  left  yesterday  after- 

[  182  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

noon,  the  Chandlers  still  here.  Have  not  had  a  wholly- 
satisfactory  visit.  The  Chicago  convention  talked 
over,  with  not  sufficient  frankness  to  heal  the  hurt. 
Sunday  night  all  the  Richards  came  up  to  tea,  bring- 
ing with  them  Mr.  P ,  a  cousin.    Emmons  stayed 

in  Boston  a  day  or  so,  both  Mr  Chandler  1  and  your 
Father  seeing  him  there.  Sunday  night  he  went  to 
New  York,  but  before  he  left  Boston  he  sent  me  a 
telegram,  asking  for  his  lavender  trousers,  which 
nearly  drove  me  wild,  as  I  could  find  nothing  of  the 
description  among  his  leavings.  Imagine  his  feelings 
when  he  opened  the  box  containing  three  pairs  of  un- 
mentionables, varying  in  color  from  gray  to  claret 
brown!  I  suppose  he  is  in  Harrisburg  to-night. 
H.'s  arithmetic  is  on  the  tapis,  so  I  must  say 
good-bye. 

H  SB. 

.  Augusta  November  28th  1880 
Sunday  afternoon 

My  dear  M.,  —  When  I  tell  you  that  I  am  alone 
in  the  house,  with  the  servants,  Jamie  having  gone 

out   and  H over  the  river,  to  pass  the  night 

with  Tuly,  you  will  not  expect  much  variety  to  this 
letter. 

Indeed,  this  large  house,  with  its  few  tenants,  is 
absolutely    oppressive,    more   especially    on    Sunday, 

1  William  E.  Chandler,  later  U.  S.  Senator  from  New  Hampshire. 

[  183] 


LETTERS    OF 

when  I  am  driven  to  books  uninterruptedly.  I  can- 
not remember  when  I  wrote  you  —  I  know  that  I 
have  written  since  Thanksgiving  to  Walker,  Alice 
and  Emmons,  and  to  your  Father  twice  a  day.  He 
left  for  Washington  Wednesday,  stayed  that  night 
at  Hamilton,  coming  up  to  Boston  Thanksgiving 
morning,  went  on  to  New  York  and  dined  with  Mr 
Elkins,1  then  to  Washington  by  night  train,  Lewis 
letting  him  into  the  house  a  little  before  seven. 
Found  everything  there  all  right,  and  after  a  break- 
fast from  Wormley's,  was  to  go  to  see  Garfield.  I 
spent  my  Thanksgiving  very  quietly. 

Emmons  is,  I  judge,  quite  pleased  with  his  advent 
into  business.  He  writes  me  nice  long  letters,  giving 
me  details  which  I  dearly  love  —  which  letters  I 
should  herewith  transmit,  but  they  have  gone  to  your 
Father.  Jack  too  tells  me,  that  he  feels  within  him 
latent  ambition,  and  means  to  fan  it  into  a  flame,  so 
that  men  shall  take  notice  of  him  as  a  not  degenerate 
son  of  a  noble  father.  Your  Father,  going  away,  left 
me  as  his  parting  legacy  an  injunction  to  entertain 
at  tea  Mrs.  B.  and  her  daughter.  So  to-morrow  I 
have  them  and  the  neighbors.  How  are  you  getting 
along?     Write  often  to  your  affectionate, 

Mother. 

1  Stephen  B.  Elkins,  delegate  in  Congress  from  New  Mexico,  and 
later  U.  S.  Senator  from  West  Virginia. 

[  IS-*  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 
To  Miss  Dodge 

Augusta,  December  3rd,  1880. 
I  am  left  absolutely  alone  with  my  servants,  every 
want  anticipated,  not  a  room  in  the  house  not  at 
summer  heat,  sunshine  and  open  fires  vieing  with 
each  other,  four  horses  and  pony  in  the  stable, 
sleighs  and  robes  in  abundance  and  the  beautiful 
snow ;  every  longing  satisfied,  with  full  salvation 
blessed  —  what  can  I  need?  My  sins  —  that  is,  my 
sinners.  First  of  all,  I  miss  Mr  Blaine.  I  cannot 
bear  the  orderly  array  of  my  life.  I  miss  the  en- 
velopes in  the  gravy,  the  bespattered  table  linen,  the 
uncertainty  of  the  meals,  for  you  know  he  always 
starts  out  on  his  constitutional  when  he  hears  them 
taking  in  dinner.  I  miss  his  unvarying  attention, 
and  as  constant  neglect.  When  alone  with  him  I  am 
not  my  own  —  when  others  are  in,  go  as  you  please 
is  the  rule,  and  the  alternation  suits  me  exactly. 
Then  the  boys  —  oh,  how  I  miss  them.  They  know 
all  I  ever  knew  —  and  I  have  forgotten  much  —  they 
are  fresh  and  untiring  as  the  sun  which  never  sets  — 
they  are  loving  and  want  sympathy  —  old  enough 
to  be  companions,  too  young  to  assert  their  rights, 
taking  everything  as  of  grace,  and  of  their  fulness 
I  am  a  partaker.  Blessed  relationship  —  the  man 
child  to  his  mother. 

[  185] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 
To  M.,  at  Farmixgton 

Augusta  December  5th  1880 
Sunday  evening 

Dear  M.,  —  I  am  getting  off  a  huge  mail  to- 
night, to  your  Father,  to  Alice,  to  Jacky,  to  Briggs 
of  Boston  and  to  Clarke  of  Boston,  bookseller.  The 
purport  of  the  last  two  you  can  imagine,  each  envel- 
ope containing  a  violet  colored  check.  Then  my 
spirits  are  not  good,  and  it  is  snowing  and  raining 
and  I  like  decision  in  the  elements  and  in  the  councils, 
and  we  are  lonely,  the  two  H's,  who  sit  here  by  the 
sitting  room  fire,  both  writing,  one  a  story,  the  other 
a  love-letter.  But  loneliness  is  nothing,  provided 
you  are  right  minded.  Possession  of  yourself  —  to 
say  to  yourself,  do  this  and  she  doeth  it,  and  go  away 
from  that,  and  she  goeth,  —  is  to  have  your  life  ad- 
justed  to  the  will  of  God  and  moving  to  the  eternal 
harmonies. 

H  S  B 


[  186] 


1881 


To  Walker,  in  St.  Paul 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington,  Jany  16th  1881 

My  dear  Walker,  —  I  am  so  anxious  to  put  my- 
self once  more  into  communication  with  my  family 
that  I  have  braced  myself  up  with  a  half  bottle  of 
champagne  so  as  to  get  off  that  miserable  sofa,  and 
write  at  least  a  short  letter.  There  I  have  been  lying 
since  Tuesday,  when  I  went  to  a  delightful  little 
party  at  Mrs.  Bancroft's,1  but  during  the  night  I 
was  attacked  with  illness,  and  since  then  when  not 
actually  suffering,  I  have  been  so  dyspeptic  and  rest- 
less, that  life  has  been  a  burden  to  me.  I  am  getting 
better  all  the  time,  but  the  wrestle  with  returning 
health  is  almost  worse  than  losing  it. 

Meanwhile,  M.  has  gone,  leaving  as  she  always 
does,  a  great  void,  though  her  and  your  little  sister 
has  kept  me  company  all  the  morning,  a  truly  sweet 
restorative,  reading  to  me  selections  of  her  own  from 
Tennyson,  Shelley,  Swinburne  and  Emerson,  with 
comments  and  criticisms  truly  suggestive,  and  hav- 
ing at  last  read  Godiva,  I  have  looked  up  for  her 
Esau's  (pronounced  by  her  "  Essau's  ")  rough  hands, 
an  allusion  she  had  no  conception  of  the  meaning  of, 
which  veracious  history  she  is  now  mastering,  with 

1  Wife  of  George  Bancroft,  the  historian. 
[  189] 


LETTERS    OF 

the  single  comment  that  if  a  person  could  believe  it, 
he  must  certainly  become  religious. 

It  is  a  very  interesting  time  to  be  sick.  Last  night 
we  had  a  grand  dinner  party.  The  Chief  Justice,1 
the  General,2  the  Secretaries  of  State  and  Interior,3 
the  German,4  French  5  and  English  Ministers,6  Mr. 
Dougherty,7  and  Mr.  Schlesinger,8  Mr.  Bancroft  and 
Mr.  Morton,9  and  Mrs.  Robeson  and  Mrs.  Lawrence.10 
An  elegant  dinner,  beautiful  table,  and  distinguished 
and  brilliant  company,  all  of  which  of  course  I  lost. 
Alice  and  Jamie  went  to  the  theatre,  G.  H.  to  the 
table,  and  the  two  Harriets  to  bed.  And  to-night  we 
have  another  smaller  dinner,  which  I  must  also  lose. 

Do  you  remember  how  much  you  seemed  to  have 
to  give  up  when  your  shoulder  was  dislocated?  Now 
that  I  am  absolutely  mending,  your  Father  is  in  gay 
spirits.  My  attack  completely  broke  him  up.  Had 
it  not  been  so  pathetic,  it  would  have  been  amusing. 
He  would  not  go  to  the  Senate,  thought  himself  sick, 

1  Morrison  R.  Waite  of  Ohio,  Chief  Justice,  1874-88. 
a  Gen.  William  T.  Sherman. 

3  William  M.  Evarts  of  New  York  and  Carl  Schurz  of  Missouri. 

4  Karl  von  Schlozer,  German  Minister. 

6  Maxime  Outrey,  French  Minister  from  1877-82. 

6  Sir  Edward  Thornton. 

7  Daniel  Dougherty,  the  well-known  lawyer  and  orator  of  Phila- 
delphia, called  the  "Silver  tongued." 

8  Sebastian  Schlesinger,  a  foreign  banker. 

9  Levi  P.  Morton,  then  Member  of  Congress  from  New  York. 
10  Mrs.  Bigelow  Lawrence  of  Washington. 

[  190] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

broke  all  his  engagements,  and  excused  himself  to 
everybody  on  the  ground  that  he  could  not  leave  me. 
In  my  room  he  sat  on  my  bed  or  creaked  across  the 
floor  from  corner  to  corner  by  the  hour,  making  me 
feel  a  guilty  wretch  to  cause  him  so  much  misery. 
He  is  a  dear,  dear  old  fellow. 

I  think  he  will  go  to  Mentor  very  soon.  Garfield 
has  written  for  him,  and  though  he  does  not  want  to 
go,  he  will  not  refuse.  All  the  world  is  paying  court 
to  the  coming  or  expected  Secretary  of  State.  So- 
cially you  know  it  is  about  the  best  position.  John 
Hay  1  will,  I  think,  stay  in  a  little  while. 

We  have  not  taken  any  further  steps  about  the 
new  house,  but  are  fully  determined  upon  it.  This 
will  go  into  the  market  at  once  unless  a  private  sale 
can  be  effected.  We  intend  to  put  up  a  very  nice  and 
expensive  house.  I  can  write  no  more.  Excuse  the 
writing,  which  the  champagne  makes  worse  than 
usual.     With  love, 

H.  S.  B. 

1  John  Hay  of  Ohio,  President  Lincoln's  private  secretary; 
Secretary  of  State  under  Presidents  McKinley  and  Roosevelt ;  at  that 
time  (1879-81)  First  Assistant  Secretary  of  State. 


[  191  ] 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

To  M.,  at  Farmington 

Washington,  January  17th,  1881. 

My  dear  M.,  —  Here  I  still  am,  in  the  same 
old  room,  on  the  same  old  sofa,  under  the  same  old 
afghan,  hardly  knowing  whether  I  am  better  or  worse, 
and  dreadfully  bored  with  the  trouble  of  getting  well. 
I  was  at  breakfast  and  lunch,  but  the  sight  of  so 
much  food  making  me  loathe  the  little  I  had  hoped 
to  eat,  I  concluded  to  dine  in  my  own  room,  and  here 
I  am  still,  delightfully  quiet  and  rested,  and  not  in 
the  least  lonesome,  though  alone. 

I  must  get  well  however  in  good  earnest  now,  as 
people  are  beginning  to  send  me  in  goodies,  and  this 
you  know,  I  cannot  bear.  To  be  petted  is  not  my 
forte.  The  Saturday  and  Sunday  dinners  passed  off 
beautifully,  flowers,  table,  dinner  and  guests  unex- 
ceptionable. Your  Father  was  highly  gratified  at 
everything,  and  so  with  the  second  dinner,  which 
much  smaller,  passed  off  equally  well.  I  have  ac- 
cepted three  dinners  for  this  week,  so  you  see  I  am 
expecting  to  be  well. 

H.  S.  B. 


[  192  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

821  Fifteenth  Street, 
Washington,  January  23rd,  1881. 

Dear  M.,  —  I  suppose  you  will  like  a  letter,  even 
from  a  headachy  mother,  who  has  nothing  in  her 
head  but  the  ache,  is  not  conscious  of  an  idea,  and 
worst  of  all,  is  innocent  of  gossip. 

Nevertheless,  that  mail  to-morrow  afternoon  must 
keep  faith  to  the  letter,  however  it  fails  to  the  spirit. 
I  am  down  stairs  alone,  where  I  have  just  been  writ- 
ing a  note  to  Senator  Pendleton,1  accepting  an  invita- 
tion to  your  Father  to  dine  with  him  on  Saturday, 
and  finding  the  pen  run  smoothly  over  the  paper,  I 
am  determined  here  to  scrawl  my  scrawl  to  you  rather 
than  upstairs,  where  Alice,  C  A  and  H  are  in  full 
possession  of  my  room,  with  its  triple  blessing  of 
windows. 

Did  you  know  that  I  have  staying  with  me  Mr. 
Cowles,  the  brother  of  your  Miss  Cowles,  and  his 
sister  Susie?  Well  I  have,  and  am  enjoying  the  visit 
very  much,  as  they  are  bright,  sympathetic  and  lov- 
ing and  lovable.  Your  Father  got  away  to  New  York 
on  the  Limited  of  yesterday  —  will  return  on  Wednes- 
day. Every  day  after  I  was  able,  till  he  went  away, 
we  drove  out  to  look  at  the  lot.  You  know  I  was 
not  carried  away  with  it,  which  proved  almost  too 
much  for  your  dearest  dad.     However,  after  a  dozen 

1  George  F.  Pendleton  of  Ohio. 
vol.  i  —13  [   193   ] 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

voyages  by  land  and  water,  to  that  snow  covered 
eminence,  I  am  ready  to  avouch  that  the  sun  will  visit 
the  dining  room  every  morning  at  breakfast,  that 
though  the  house  will  stand  east  and  west,  yet  that 
can  make  no  difference  to  the  center  of  the  circum- 
ference, that  the  drainage  is  good,  that  it  is  a  com- 
manding site,  and  with  Don  Cameron's  1  assistance, 
can  combine  all  the  advantages  of  space,  air  and  light 
and  greensward.  To-night,  Stanley  Pullen,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Putnam  of  Portland,  Lizzie  and  Virginia  Cam- 
eron are  coming  to  tea.  I  have  cucumbers,  lettuce 
and  tomatoes  from  Harrisburg.  Last  night  I  dined 
at  the  English  Legation.  The  table  was  perfectly 
imposing,  with  its  candles,  its  silver,  glass  and  flowers, 
and  the  dinner  was  admirable,  —  but  oh,  how  stupid 

it  was!     Even  Mr.  A 's,  where  I  was  the  night 

before,  was  brighter. 

Washington,  March  14th,  1881. 
Monday  afternoon 

Dear    M.,  —  What    are    you    doing    in    peaceful 

Farmington,  while  Czars  are  dying  and  Czarowitches 

mounting  the  throne?    Imagine  what  a  family  matter 

that   assassination 1    must  have   seemed,   when   Alice 

1  James  Donald  Cameron  of    Pennsylvania,   Secretary  of  War 
under  President  Grant,  and  later  U.  S.  Senator. 

2  Emperor  Alexander  II  of  Russia,  assassinated  March  13,  1881. 
M.  Bartolomei  was  then  the  Russian  Minister  to  the  United  States. 

[  194  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

came  running  to  the  door  yesterday  as  I  came  from 
church  to  tell  me  of  it,  and  when  I  saw  Bartolomei 
himself,  sitting  in  my  own  parlor,  and  crossing  and 
recrossing  himself,  while  he  prayed  devoutly  before 
reading  the  despatches,  for  all  the  news  there  was  for 
hours,  was  contained  in  the  telegrams  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  State.  Poor  Emperor,  dogged  to  his  death 
at  last!  I  think  he  must  be  enrolled  among  the 
martyrs. 

To  come  to  the  augustae  res  domi,  Saturday  after- 
noon I  stood  up  with  Mrs.  Garfield,  while  all  the 
American  people,  who  wanted  to,  came  to  pay  their 
respects  to  her  and  the  President.  It  is  not  any  of 
it  so  bad  as  I  expected,  and  much  of  it  is  really 
amusing. 

Friday  evening  March  18th  1881 
Dear  M.,  —  I  have  spent  the  entire  day  in  my 
room,  where  your  Father,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  is  in 
bed,  having  taken  last  night  a  frightful  cold  at  the 
White  House,  where  the  President  and  Mrs.  Gar- 
field received  the  Senate  and  their  friends.  Your 
parents  and  the  private  secretary,  with  Alice  and 
Mr.  Mahone,1  who  had  dined  with  us,  and  C.  A. 
made  our  party.  Then  Walker  and  Philip  went 
to   the   British   Legation    to   Lady    Thornton's   last 

1  William  Mahone,  U.  S.  Senator  from  Virginia. 

[  195  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

Thursday.  The  Secretaryship  grows  more  and  more 
agreeable.  Tuesday  your  father  and  I  assisted  at 
the  Requiem  Mass  for  the  Czar.  I  had  never  antici- 
pated going  into  black  for  any  of  the  European  sov- 
ereigns, but  with  Mrs.  Hale's  assistance,  I  did.  She 
was  here  when  I  was  dressing,  and  pinned  my  old 
black  lace  cape  on  to  my  old  black  chip,  so  that  I 
went  en  regie.  Wednesday,  I  dined  at  the  English 
Legation,  and  sat  between  the  host  and  Lord  George 
Campbell,  who  is  a  brother  of  the  Marquis  of  Lome. 
Jacky  gets  along  beautifully.  Letters  are  already 
coming  addressed  to  the  Honorable  Walker  Blaine, 
and  at  the  Elliott  Shepherd  *  dinner  the  other  night, 
he  made  a  speech.  The  house  is  filled  with  flowers 
all  the  time,  an  immense  horse  shoe,  surmounted  by 
a  ship  of  state,  fills  our  parlor  table.  Dinner  is  just 
over,  and  I  am  writing  in  your  old  room,  not  liking 
to  turn  up  the  light  in  the  other,  where  your  Father 
is  asleep.     Goodnight,  with  love, 

H.  S.  B. 

Washington,  March  24th,  1881 
Thursday  morning 

Dear  M.,  —  To  insure  the  successful  completion 

of  my   proposed   task   now,   I  must  begin   it   early 

in    the    morning.      So    having    guided    your   Father 

1  Col.  Elliott  F.  Shepherd  of  New  York  at  that  time  owner  of  the 
Mail  and  Express. 

[  196] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

through  the  intricacies  of  his  toilet  and  presided 
over  his  eggs  and  tea,  during  which  I  have  also 
worked  off  a  towel  initial,  I  commence  the  duties  and 
pleasures  of  the  day  by  writing  this  to-be  letter,  first 
apologizing  for  its  brothers  and  sisters  which  never 
reached  Farmington.  Truth  to  tell,  the  new  position 
gives  me  a  mighty  wrench.  I  thought  my  hands  full 
before  —  I  find  they  were  empty.  Your  Father  has 
just  gone  to  the  Department.  Did  you  notice  the 
nominations  sent  in  yesterday?  1  They  mean  business 
and   strength. 

To-night  we,  Miss  Dodge,  your  Father  and  I,  dine 
at  the  Outreys,  and  Alice  and  Walker  tea  at  Mrs. 
Berry's.  All  the  afternoon  I  shall  be  paying  visits, 
and  the  letters,  notes,  accounts  I  have  to  notice  be- 
fore then,  make  my  heart  sink  into  my  shoes.  Mr. 
Hitt  2  is  to  be  the  Assistant  Secretary,  Jacky  re- 
maining as  he  is.  We  have  the  plans  for  the  house, 
and  they  are  so  huge  and  so  expensive  that  we  are 
now  engaged  in  striking  out  every  pretty  thing  to 

1  Referring,  among  others,  to  the  nomination  of  Win.  H.  Robert- 
son as  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New  York  in  place  of  Edwin  Atkins 
Merritt. 

2  Robert  Roberts  Hitt  of  Illinois,  Secretary  of  Legation  in  Paris; 
Assistant  Secretary  of  State;  a  most  distinguished  member  of  Con- 
gress and  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs  for  many 
years.  In  early  life  Mr.  Hitt  became  an  accomplished  stenographer 
and  was  the  means  of  preserving  to  history  the  Lincoln-Douglas  de- 
bates of  18j8.  It  is  said  that  Lincoln  would  never  speak  during 
those  momentous  years  without  assuring  himself  that  Mr.  Hitt  was 
at  his  post.  r   j    _  -, 


LETTERS    OF 

reduce  the  expenditure  to  the  limits  of  your  Father's 
purse.  Yesterday,  I  had  my  second  reception,  a  great 
crowd.  Am  now  about  to  issue  cards  for  Saturdays 
in  April.  Jamie's  Montana  trip  has  come  to  noth- 
ing. Mrs.  Pike  and  her  niece  were  over  from  Balti- 
more Tuesday  for  lunch,  and  of  course  I  took  them 
to  the  White  House,  where  we  saw  the  Garfields,  and 
the  Hayes'  china.  Since  writing  this  letter  I  have 
written  to  Aunt  Caddy,  in  answer  to  a  cheerful  letter 
from  herself,  but  I  never  dragged  more  over  a  letter. 

H  S  B 


March  28th. 
I  am  writing  in  my  room;  present,  your  Father, 
Alice,  Walker,  Tom  Sherman  and  a  messenger  from 
the  State  Department;  subject,  Shall  we  send  mes- 
sage, recognizing  Charles  as  King  of  Roumania?  l 
There  are  lots  of  things  which  hitch  in  our  new 
position,  which  make  the  new  situation  interesting. 
Flowers  have  just  come  from  Mrs.  Garfield,  and  yes- 
terday she  and  the  President  were  both  here.     They 

1  The  kingdom  of  Roumania,  as  at  present  constituted,  dates  only 
from  1881,  having  been  formed  by  union  of  the  principalities  of 
Moldavia  and  Wallachia  in  southeastern  Europe.  In  1881  Roumania 
declared  itself  a  Kingdom,  and  was  in  turn  recognized  by  the  powers, 
its  first  minister  from  the  United  States  being  Eugene  Schuyler  of 
New  York. 

[  198] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

hate  the  situation,  but  this  is  not  to  be  spoken  of, 
and  I  never  want  to  be  nearer  the  White  House  than 
I  now  am. 

Tuesday  evening,  May  17th,  1881. 
Dear   M.,  —  Your  Father   has   lost  one   pair   of 
glasses  and  I  have  stepped  on  his  spectacles.     I  need 
not   say   who   enjoys   those   still   extant,   so   I   write 
blindly,  unable  to  discern  one  letter.     Tom  got  back 
this  morning,  and  the  day  was  also  marked  by  the 
arrival  of  your  letter,  announcing  the  safe  completion 
of  your  journey.     I  enclose  Mrs  Manley's  letter  re- 
ceived during  the  forenoon,  to  show  that  I  am  free 
from  anxiety  concerning  the  departing  ones.     Noth- 
ing of  private  interest  has  transpired  since  you  left, 
but  we  had  yesterday,  with  the  rest   of  the  world, 
the  sensational  resignations  of  Conkling  and  Piatt.1 
They  produce  no  excitement  here,  and  I  have  yet  to 
hear  one  criticism  complimentary  of  Conkling,  though 
I  have  seen  all  sorts  of  people  and  of  every  shade  of 
cowardice.    I  called  at  the  White  House  yesterday  to 
see  Mrs.  Sheldon,  but  had  only  the  privilege  of  sit- 

1  "  When  in  1881  President  Garfield  failed  to  consult  the  New  York 
senators  in  appointing  a  Collector  for  the  Port  of  New  York,  and  when 
the  Senate  confirmed  the  acts  of  the  President,  Senator  Conkling 
resigned  his  seat,  together  with  his  colleague,  Thomas  C.  Piatt,  and 
they  appealed  to  the  New  York  Legislature  for  vindication  by  a  re- 
election, which  the  Legislature  failed  to  carry  out." 

Lamb's  Biographical  Dictionary. 

[  199] 


LETTERS    OF 

ting  in  the  antechamber,  while  a  semi-military  servant 
ran  up  and  down  the  house  to  find  that  Mrs.  Sheldon 
had  gone  out  driving.  Mrs.  Garfield  is  better,  and  if 
the  doctors  are  not  too  much  for  her,  she  will  get  well. 
Just  before  dinner,  I  walked  out  with  your  Father 
to  the  "  lot."  They  commenced  grading  yesterday, 
and  Mr.  Frazier  now  has  the  contract.     We  are  to 

have    it    in    December.      B got    away    to-day. 

His  ticket  was  purchased  yesterday,  when  the  coup 
d'etat  of  Conkling  threw  him  out  so,  he  stayed  on  for 
further  developments.  Excuse  this  miserable  scrawl, 
and  let  the  love  atone  for  the  irregularities  of  style. 
As  you  know,  I  have  a  weakness  for  elegant  chirog- 
raphy.     Always  your 

Mother. 


To  Emmons,  in  Chicago 

Washington,  May  17th,  1881 
Your  Father  eating  his  breakfast  this  moment,  and 
Walker  talking  to  him  on  the  new,  original  and  strik- 
ing topic  of  procuring  places  for  female  applicants. 
"  Miss  C,"  Walker  says,  "  is  as  nice  a  little  girl  as  I 
ever  saw,  and  writes  a  beautiful  hand,  we  must  pro- 
vide for  her ;  "  and  vour  Father  answers,  "  But  I 
must  first  look  out  for  Mrs  B,  get  her  a  place,  then 
the  decks  will  be  clear  for  Miss  C,"  and  to  this  enters 

[  200  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

a  card  from  Mrs  Chandler,  with  of  course  a  woman 
attached  whom  I  am  to  see  and  help.  I  have  had 
this  morning  a  long  and  delightful  letter  from  Mr. 
Phelps,  sent  from  Queenstown,  with  an  agreeable  men- 
tion of  you,  and  we  are  this  moment  anxiously  awaiting 
a  cablegram  from  him,  on  the  subject  of  house  lots,  for 
do  you  know  your  Father,  with  that  independence  of 
criticism  which  makes  him  so  interesting  and  delight- 
ful a  comrade,  has  conceived  a  sort  of  disgust  with 
the  16th  street  place,  on  account  of  the  vicinage  of 
stables,  and  although  he  has  had  that  immense  tract 
graded,  is  not  going  to  build  on  it,  and  fastening  his 
affections  on  a  lot  on  Massachusetts  Avenue,  P  and 
20th  Streets,  he  comes  upon  the  surprising  fact  that 
Mr  Phelps  is  the  owner  thereof,  hence  a  cablegram 
and  the  waited-for  reply.  In  my  letter  Mr  Phelps 
says,  "  while  I  was  struggling  with  the  hasp  of  my 
trunk  I  told  Hopkins,  who  was  in  the  room,  to  buy 
that  other  piece  of  land  for  me."  Your  Father  said 
to  me  only  yesterday,  "  I  am  just  like  Jamie,  when 
I  want  a  thing,  I  want  it  dreadfully."  They  are  a 
pair  of  Jamies  —  after  which  Augusta  and  summer 
and  freedom  and  out  of  doors. 


[201  ] 


LETTERS    OF 


To  M.,  AT  Farmington 

Washington,  May  22nd,  1881. 

My  dear  M.,  —  We  are  all  well  and  nourishing, 
your  Father  gone  to  the  country  since  ten  o'clock, 
with  Gen.  Sherman,  Walker  at  the  B.'s  to  breakfast, 
Alice,  Jamie  and  I  at  Dr  Paxton's  church,  and 
H.  with  her  hymnal  and  prayer  book  to  St  John's. 
Your  little  sister  grows  more  and  more  devout,  and 
when  at  breakfast  Jamie  spoke  of  deviled  crabs,  she 
came  around  to  his  seat  and  begged  him  so  earnestly 
not  to  use  that  word  before  ladies  and  little  girls, 
that  he  actually  promised  not  to.  I  think  the  com- 
pliment implied  by  H  that  it  would  not  hurt  boys  and 
men,  might  have  influenced  him. 

After  church,  I  walked  around  to  the  White  House, 
where  I  had  the  privilege  of  seeing  the  President,  and 
later  the  Mac  Veaghs,  who  also  came  to  inquire  for 
Mrs.  Garfield.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  have  grave 
fears  about  Mrs.  Garfield.  She  is  very  sick,  and  after 
hearing  exactly  how  she  is,  I  confess  I  am  very  un- 
easy. Still  the  doctors  say  she  will  get  well,  and  if 
she  does,  I  shall  not  be  surprised  if  she  comes  to 
Maine  and  stays  awhile  with  me.  She  has  to  go  where 
she  can  be  perfectly  quiet.  Your  Father  received  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Morton  this  morning,  asking  if  he 

[  202  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAIXE 

should   engage   passage   for   you   with   them   on   the 

Amerique.     You  ought  to  have  heard  H 's  howl. 

"  It  has  just  spoiled  my  Sunday,  and  I  have  been 
looking;  forward  to  it  all  the  week."  This  brought 
your  Father  to  terms,  and  he  was  very  soon  able  to 
remember  that  Gen.  Hurlbut 1  was  going  over  later 
and  could  take  charge  of  your  inconvenient  self. 

The  political  horizon  looms  up,  if  horizons  ever 
loom,  in  its  old  fashion.  Everybody,  as  you  will 
suppose,  is  leaving  Washington,  and  daily  I  inter- 
view possible  cooks,  waitresses  and  laundresses.  When 
this  role  is  filled,  we  shall  be  able  to  leave,  though  I 
have  many  misgivings  as  to  the  boy  I  leave  behind  me, 
or  as  Garfield  would  say,  the  dear  one.  I  do  not 
mean  Walker,  but  your  Father,  though  he  anticipates 
real  pleasure  in  visiting  Deer  Park  and  the  Elkinses. 

You  cannot  think  how  much  praise  has  been 
showered  on  Walker  for  his  urbanity  and  efficiency 
these  last  days.2  Mr.  Lamar  3  says  no  such  young 
man  has  been  in  Washington. 

HSB 

1  Gen.  Stephen  A.  Hurlburt,  U.  S.  Minister  to  Peru. 

2  Walker  Blaine's  appointment,  on  July  1st  following,  as  third 
Assistant  Secretary  of  State,  was  the  last  appointment  signed  by 
President  Garfield  before  his  assassination. 

3  Lucius  Quintius  Cincinnatus  Lamar,  U.  S.  Senator  from 
Mississippi. 

[  203  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

Washington  May  31st  1881,  Tuesday  a.  m. 

Your  Father  has  not  been  up  since  Saturday.  He 
came  home  from  a  drive  that  afternoon,  had  a  chill, 
was  in  a  raging  fever  all  that  night,  but  thanks  to 
Dr  Lincoln's  heroic  remedies,  he  has  had  no  recur- 
rence of  chills  and  is  intending  to  be  present  at  the 
Cabinet  meeting  to-day.  The  day  is  of  the  hottest, 
and  I  have  to  go  down  town  with  H  and  shoe  and 
hat  her,  both  ends  need  my  attention. 

Sitting  here  with  me,  while  I  write,  are  a  variety 
of  people  —  Dr.  Lincoln,  waiting  to  make  his  pro- 
fessional call,  Mr.  Frazier  the  architect ;  and  thereby 
hangs  this  tale.  We  are  not  to  build  on  16th  Street. 
Mr.  Pendleton  takes  our  rejected  lot,  which  has  just 
been  graded,  and  he  and  Mr.  Robeson  divide  the 
residuum.  Now  we  go  to  Massachusetts  Avenue  and 
20th  and  P  Streets,  beyond  the  Stewart  House.1  That 
dear  Mr.  Phelps  had  bought  this  land,  though  he 
did  n't  know  it,  and  he  has  cablegraphed  us  that  we 
may  have  as  much  of  the  land  as  we  want,  if  we  will 
make  the  dining  room  larger.  Is  n't  that  just  like 
him  ? 

Joseph  Manley  also  sits  here,  and  the  faithful  Bart- 
lett,  while  in  the  dim  distance  in  the  dining  room, 

1  The  mansion  built  by  Senator  W.  M.  Stewart  of  Nevada,  later 
occupied  for  some  years  by  the  Chinese  Minister. 

[  204  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Thomas  and  a  State  Department  messenger  may  be 
descried. 

This  new  locale  gives  us  a  frontage  to  the  east  on 
20th  Street,  drawing  rooms  and  dining  on  P  Street, 
and  library  and  hall  and  reception  room  on  Massa- 
chusetts Avenue.    A  wonderful  situation.    With  love, 

H  SB 

Washington,  Monday  evening.  June  7th  1881 
Dear  M.,  —  Your  Father  is  down  stairs  and  has 
been  out  driving  —  need  I  say,  in  the  direction  of 
the  lots  old  and  new?  First  we  go  to  16th  street,  to 
look  it  over  and  say  how  little  we  like  it,  then  to  20th 
Street,  to  admire.  On  the  latter  site,  they  are  grad- 
ing to-day,  and  on  the  former,  hollowing  out  the 
Pendleton  cellar. 

The  family  is  so  small,  I  have  little  to  tell.  Many 
meals  Alice  and  I  have  taken  together  of  late,  your 
Father  being  confined  to  his  room,  and  Walker  having 
engagements.  With  your  Father,  he  is  now  discuss- 
ing the  Fortune  Bay  *  award,  which  he  has  watched 
very  carefully  and  been  much  interested  in.  I  judge 
that  he  makes  a  great  impression  and  your  Father  is 
exceedingly  pleased  with  him. 

1  Damages  of  $73,000  were  paid  by  Great  Britain  for  injuries  done 
by  Canadians  to  Gloucester  fishermen  taking  fish  in  Fortune  Bay, 
Newfoundland,  by  right  of  the  Treaty  of  Washington,  ratified  in  1871. 

[  205  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

You  cannot  imagine  how  uncomfortable  I  am  with 
the  close  rooms.  Your  Father  has  a  fire,  all  the 
windows  closed,  and  of  course  I  nearly  suffocate.  Mrs 
Garfield  is  getting  well.  This  is  all,  as  I  am  dull. 
Good-night,  with  love, 

H  SB 

Washington,  June  10th  1881 
Wednesday  morning 

My  dear  M.,  —  As  I  write  the  familiar  date  of 

this  letter,  I  am   reminded   that  it  is   the  day  and 

hour  when  I  expected  to  be  in  Boston,  at  this  precise 

moment   buying  a   Chuddah   shawl,   and  here   I   am 

notifying  my  various  children  that  my  address,  for 

the  present,  bids  fair  to  be  Washington.     For  your 

Father  has  taken  it  into  his  head  to  be  well,  and  when 

an  idea  gets  lodgment  in  that  capacious  brain,  you 

know  it  becomes  a  power,  and  drives  the  weak  body. 

So  now,  we  are  on  the  high  road  to  health,  and  all 

clumsy  vehicles  of  notions,  like  going  home  to  get 

rest,  malaria  in  Washington,  Bright's  Disease,  etc., 

etc.,  must  clear  the  tracks  or  be  ridden  down.     If  it 

were  not  for  H  and  Jamie,  I  should  be  content  to 

stay  on  and  on,  but  I  deeply  sympathize  with  those 

waifs,  to  whom  I  am  separately  writing,  to  be  of  good 

cheer  and  to  be  good  children.     Walker  says,  "  Poor 

little  children.    I  would  give  twenty  dollars  to  console 

H.  this  minute."    Mr.  Sherman  leaves  with  his  family 

[  206  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

to-morrow  morning,  and  I  cannot  but  envy  him,  he 
looks  so  happy.  He  is  tearing  around  now  with  a 
roll  of  bills,  greenbacks  I  mean,  saying  he  has  not 
time  for  anything.  I  have  collected  and  had  colored 
black,  all  the  stray  feathers  in  the  house;    and  you 

ought  to  see  my  hat  which  they  adorn.    Mrs  B 's 

was  meek  looking  compared  to  it.  It  is  as  big  as  the 
moon  after  the  eclipse  had  passed  off  the  other  night, 
and  all  around  the  edge  of  this  great  orb,  these 
plumes  arise,  solemnly  rustling  in  the  west  wind  which 
has  now  been  blowing  for  lo,  these  many  days.  True, 
this  mournful  circumference  is  lighted,  or  lit  up  as 
much  as  may  be,  by  two  red  flowers.  Nothing  could 
be  prettier  than  it  looks  on  Alice  —  of  it  on  myself, 
modesty  forbids  me  to  speak.  And  Alice  has  your 
white  failure  all  made  over.  Forrest  did  very  well  with 
it.  Also,  she  has  a  black  hat  with  feathers,  and  your 
chip  is  all  beautifully  ready  for  you.  So  much  for 
millinery.  Our  house  is  started,  but  your  Father  is 
again  tinkering  with  the  plans.     With  love, 

H.  S.  B. 

Washington,  June  22nd,  1881,  Wednesday 
Dear  M.,  —  I  am  almost  sorry  to  be  again  writ- 
ing  from  Washington,   to   which   we   seem   tied   for 
an  indefinite  time.     Your  Father  is  perfectly  well, 
but  is  unwilling  to  have  us  leave  him  or  to  leave 

[  207  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

with  us.  The  President  is  away,  and  the  new  house 
is  starting.  He  likes  to  watch  every  spadeful  of 
eartli  which  he  can  snatch  time  to  see  thrown  out. 
Meanwhile  Emmons,  who  is  with  us,  makes  the  delay 
bearable.  Poor  fellow!  He  came  Saturday  evening, 
expecting  to  transact  business  for  his  R.R.  and  get 
away  Monday,  and  have  the  next  day  for  Cambridge 
with  its  Class  Day  and  its  graduations,  and  he  finds 
himself  on  Wednesday,  held  back  at  arms'  length  by 
the  red  tape  of  the  circumlocution  office,  with  no  im- 
mediate prospect  of  any  capitulation.  He  has  a  great 
deal  of  pride,  I  think,  in  carrying  to  a  successful 
conclusion,  this  first  business  entrusted  to  him,  and 
there  is  every  prospect  of  his  failing,  so  of  course  he 
feels  a  little  blue. 

Our  day  for  starting  is  now  fixed  for  Tuesday, 
but  as  the  weather  is  perfectly  comfortable  and  de- 
cidedly charming,  I  have  my  doubts.  Jacky  and 
others  gave  a  farewell  dinner  to  Sir  Edward  last 
night,  and  I  think  he  goes  to  Harrisburg  to  spend 
Sunday,  your  Father  going  to  Deer  Park.  I  have 
been  out  this  morning  inspecting  houses,  have  looked 
at  the  Windom,  the  Ashton  and  the  Noble  houses. 

Home,  June  28th,  1881,  Tuesday  morning 
Dear    M.,  —  I    have    just    had    the    pleasure    of 
reading  your  last  brief  note,  and  while  I  wait  for 

[  208  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

your  Father  to  finish  his  mail  and  begin  his  toilette, 
if  that  word  is  thus  spelled,  I  seize  State  paper,  a 
poor  pen  and  thick  ink,  to  tell  you  that  your  family 
is  still  in  Washington,  though  positively  expecting 
to  leave  this  week.  And  Emmons  is  with  us  still,  his 
R.R.  business  unaccomplished,  though  he  has  hopes 
of  a  decision  to-day.  He  is  quite  heartened  up  about 
it,  almost  hoping  for  what  he  confidently  expected 
when  he  came  on,  so  soon  do  we  in  the  school  of  ex- 
perience learn  to  regard  that  as  a  favor,  which  earlier 
we  looked  upon  as  ours  by  inheritance.  I  think  that 
Walker,  Emmons,  and  your  Father  will  leave  with 
the  caravan  on  Thursday. 

Concerning  Washington,  I  have  nothing  to  write. 
The  house  is  still  in  the  damps,  the  cellar  damps 
I  mean,  and  Tom  is  staying  with  us,  occupying 
Jamie's  bed,  and  Mr.  Hale  is  in  town,  having  arrived 
Saturday,  and  the  Thorntons  leave  this  morning, 
and  a  dinner  or  breakfast  or  lunch  is  a  thing  of  the 
past.  And  Alice  and  I  have  about  completed  our 
summer  preparations,  and  after  this  letter  and  break- 
fast, I  shall  pack.  H.  S.  B. 

Washington,  July  3rd,  1881  ■ 

Dear  M.,  —  Your  Father  got  up  quite  early 
yesterday  morning,  in  order  to  drive  the  President 

1  President  Garfield  was  shot  in  the  waiting-room  of  the  old 
Pennsylvania  Station  in  Washington  while  on  his  way  to  a  reunion  of 
his  class  at  Williams  College. 

vol.  i—14  [  209  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

to  the  Station,  and  at  9 :30  Tom,  the  boys,  Alice  and 
I  had  breakfast.  In  the  midst  of  it,  the  doorbell 
rang,  and  Tom  was  called  out.  Then  he  called 
Walker;  but  as  the  house  is  besieged  all  the  time, 
we,  who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  remain  unscnt  for, 
paid  no  attention  to  the  prolonged  absence  of  the 
absentees ;  but  shall  I  ever  forget  the  moment  when 
Maggie  Nurse  came  running  into  the  room  crying, 
"  They  have  telephoned  over  to  you,  Mrs.  Blaine, 
that  the  President  is  assassinated."  Emmons  flew, 
for  we  all  remembered,  with  one  accord,  that  his 
Father  was  with  him.  By  the  time  I  reached  the  door, 
I  saw  that  it  must  be  true  —  everybody  on  the  street, 
and  wild.  Mrs.  Sherman  got  a  carriage  and  we  drove 
over  to  the  White  House.  Found  the  streets  in  front 
jammed  and  the  doors  closed,  but  they  let  us  through 
and  in.  The  President  still  at  the  station,  so  drove 
thitherward.  Met  the  mounted  police  clearing  the 
avenue,  then  the  ambulance ;  turned  and  followed  into 
that  very  gateway  where,  on  the  fourth  of  March, 
we  had  watched  him  enter.  I  stood  with  Mrs.  Mac- 
Veagh  in  the  hall,  when  a  dozen  men  bore  him  above 
their  heads,  stretched  on  a  mattress,  and  as  he  saw 
us  and  held  us  with  his  eye,  he  kissed  his  hand  to  us 
—  I  thought  I  should  die ;    and  when  they  brought 

1  Mrs.  Sherman  lived  at  this  time  at  817  Fifteenth  Street,  next 
door  but  one  to  Mr.  Blaine. 

[  210  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

him  into  his  chamber  and  had  laid  him  on  the  bed, 
he  turned  his  eyes  to  me,  beckoned,  and  when  I  went 
to  him,  pulled  me  down,  kissed  me  again  and  again, 
and  said,  "  Whatever  happens  I  want  you  to  promise 
to  look  out  for  Crete  "  1  the  name  he  always  gives 
his  wife.  "  Don't  leave  me  until  Crete  comes."  I  took 
my  old  bonnet  off  and  just  stayed.  I  never  left  him 
a  moment.  Whatever  happened  in  the  room,  I  never 
blenched,  and  the  day  will  never  pass  from  my  mem- 
ory. At  six  or  thereabouts,  Mrs.  Garfield  came,  frail, 
fatigued,  desperate,  but  firm  and  quiet  and  full  of 
purpose  to  save,  and  I  think  now  there  is  a  possibility 
of  succeeding. 

Of  course  I  don't  know  when  we  shall  go  home. 
There  seems  a  purpose  in  our  delay.  I  came  from 
the  White  House  at  two  this  morning,  and  had  been 
there  all  day,  but  not  in  the  room.  Emmons  is  here. 
I  am  writing  in  greatest  haste,  and  may  have  to  sit 
up  to-night.    With  love, 

H.  S.  B. 


1  A  contraction  of  Mrs.  Garfield's  Christian  name  Lucretia. 

[211] 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

821  15th  Street,  July  6th  1881 
Dear  M.,  —  I  must  send  you  a  line,  if  only  to 
let  you  know  that  in  these  times  which  are  history, 
you  are  remembered  and  sympathized  with.  It  has 
been  a  quiet  but  exceedingly  hot  day  with  us.  After 
breakfast,  I  went  with  your  Father  to  the  White 
House,  and  finding  that  their  arrangements  for  nurs- 
ing were  all  made  for  the  day,  I  came  immediately 
away  and  have  not  been  there  since.  It  is  not  in 
me  to  sit  around  in  those  public  rooms  unless  I  can 
be  of  service.  It  looks  as  though  Gaffy  would  live. 
He  is  now,  six  o'clock,  still  comfortable,  and  has 
asked  for  beefsteak.  They  will  not,  of  course,  let 
him  have  it,  but  if  they  would,  it  ought  not  to  come 
from  the  White  House  kitchens.  Such  tough  leather 
as  they  had  there  for  breakfast  the  other  morning, 
is  a  disgrace  to  the  cattle  on  a  thousand  hills. 
All  the  Cabinet  ladies  were  there,  and  Mrs.  Sher- 
man and  Tom,1  who  came  to  let  the  President  and 
Mrs.  Garfield  know,  that  yesterday,  the  young  men 
of  his  Order  made  their  Communion  an  offering  for 
the  President's  recovery.  And  Dr.  Bliss  came  in 
to  explain  to  your  Father,  the  changes  they  were 
making  in  the  President's  bed,  and  the  instructions 
which  he  hoped  he  would  give  to  Private  Secretary 

1  The  Rev.  Father  Thomas  Sherman,  General  Sherman's  son,  a 
priest  of  the  Jesuit  order. 

[  212  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Brown  anent  the  admission  of  visitors.  And  since 
our  return,  I  have  written  some  letters  and  sat  around 
in  a  light  and  breezy  costume,  and  your  Father 
has  stayed  in  and  read  and  signed  despatches  and 
received  callers,  and  in  general  taken  things  easy,  and 
now  Walker  and  your  Father  have  gone  to  the  White 
House  to  make  inquiries,  and  thence  to  make  their 
daily  visit  to  Vice  President  Arthur,  who  is  on  Cap- 
itol Hill.  I  cannot  tell  you  anything  of  the  White 
House.  I  am  afraid  to  trust  things  to  pen  and  ink. 
Character  comes  out  so  surprisingly  at  such  times, 
and  many  of  the  ladies  who  are  around,  manage  to 
have  such  a  good  time.  And  I  have  learned  to  recog- 
nize the  kitchen  cabinet.  Nothing  can  exceed  the 
satisfaction  of  the  President  when  I  am  around,  but 
I  do  not  think  I  shall  be  able  to  do  much  for  him, 
but  if  they  will  only  put  the  President's  room  into  the 
hands  of  professionals,  I  shall  live  content  and  have 
greater  hope  that  he  will  not  die. 

I  have  nothing  to  tell  about  our  plans,  as  they  all 
hinge  on  that  fateful  bedroom.  We  did  not  go  Fri- 
day, because  we  could  not  get  a  car,  Saturday  we  did 
not  wish  to  go,  and  Sunday,  I  would  not,  so  Monday 
we  had  decided  upon.  I  want  Alice  to  take  Maggie 
Nurse  and  another  girl  and  go  home  and  open  the 
house,  but  she  is  not  willing.  Of  course  it  will  be 
impossible  for  your  Father,  save  in  a  fatal  event,  to 

[  213  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

go  for  a  long  time.  Emmons  is  still  here,  cannot  get 
his  business  transacted.  I  had  a  telegram  from  Jamie 
yesterday,  asking  if  he  could  use  the  buggy. 

When  I  was  with  the  President  yesterday,  as  I  was 
all  the  forenoon,  he  looked  up  at  me  and  said,  "  When 
I  am  ready  to  eat,  I  am  going  to  break  into  Mrs. 
Blaine's  larder."    I  will  try  to  write  again  tomorrow. 

H.  S.  13. 


Washington  July  8th  1881, 
Friday  noon 

Dear  M.,  —  Everything  seems  to  be  going  as 
well  with  the  President  as  the  most  loving  heart 
can  wish.  All  peoples  and  tongues  vieing  with  each 
other  to  do  him  honor,  a  purse  made  up  for  Mrs. 
Garfield,  no  danger  now  for  the  President,  no  anxiety 
about  paralysis  or  bullet  in  the  liver,  and  every  pros- 
pect of  a  speedy  recovery  in  all  his  parts.  Arthur 
can  go  back  to  New  York  and  we  soon  to  Augusta, 
and  all  the  pain  and  woe  and  anticipated  peril  will 
not  be  lost  on  the  country.  I  have  been  to  the  White 
House  this  morning,  but  saw  none  but  officials.  Left 
your  Father  there,  in  consultation  with  the  doctors 
and  drove  up  to  Mrs.  MacVeagh's,1  for  I  am  restless 
and  broken  up  as  you  may  suppose.    Emmons  opened 

1  Wayne  MacVeagh  of  Pennsylvania  was  Attorney-General  under 
President  Garfield. 


[  214  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

the  door  to  me  when  I  finally  came  home.  He  was  in 
his  shirt  sleeves,  and  looked  every  inch  a  gentleman. 
His  case  is  still  undecided,  and  I  think  his  hopes  are 
low.  Your  Father  holds  up  wonderfully,  but  the 
weather  tries  us  all  much.  As  for  me,  I  am  rapidly 
getting  unpacked  and  fast  getting  all  my  washable 
dresses  ready  for  the  laundry.  Jacky  x  keeps  on  the 
even  tenor  of  his  way,  all  days  at  the  State  Depart- 
ment, all  evenings  at  the  White  House,  his  only  re- 
source an  infinite  number  of  cigarettes,  the  smoke 
of  whose  consumption  ascends  from  his  mouth  for- 
ever and  ever.  Mr.  Sherman  is  with  us,  and  I  am, 
among  other  experiences,  putting  to  the  test  my 
newly  engaged  servants.  The  laundress  is  condemned 
and  I  think  perhaps  the  waitress. 

I  suppose  you  have  noticed  that  the  President  came 
here  Friday  afternoon.  He  sat  with  me  an  hour, 
waiting  for  your  Father,  gave  me  his  Inaugural, 
nicely  bound,  with  his  autograph  in  it,  wanted  to  go 
to  Augusta,  but  hated  the  long  tail  to  his  kite  on  this 
trip.  Finally  your  Father  came  and  they  walked 
away  together.  Now  it  seems  this  Guiteau  followed 
him  to  the  house,  waited  to  shoot  him  on  his  return, 
but  not  wanting  to  hurt  Secretary  Blaine,  had  to 
give  it  up  that  time. 

1  Nickname  for  Walker. 
[  215  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

I  hope  I  may  go  home  Monday.  Good-bye,  with 
love. 

H  S  B 

Washington,  July  10th,  1881. 

My  dear  M.,  —  I  have  been  talking  and  talk- 
ing over  the  family  situation,  and  strange  to  say, 
have  secured  your  Father's  attention  for  fifteen  min- 
utes. It  is  difficult  for  me  to  satisfy  him  and  myself. 
My  own  plan  is  this,  to  send  Maggie  Nurse  and  two 
other  girls  home  on  Wednesday  with  Walker,  you  to 
join  them  on  Thursday.  You  can  go  on  with  Miss 
Cowles,  staying  with  C.  A.  that  night,  if  you  are 
willing,  home  on  the  first  train,  leaving  Boston  at 
8:30  a.  m.  If  that  train  does  not  stop  at  Hamilton, 
you  will  have  to  hit  it  at  Salem,  Ipswich  or  wherever 
C.  A.  advises.  This  part  of  the  plan  you  will  have 
to  perfect  yourself.  You  will  reach  Augusta  at  4  — 
must  get  Jamie  and  H.  home,  do  as  well  as  you 
can  with  the  house,  and  be  as  happy  as  possible. 
There  are  the  horses,  carriages  and  Fred,  and  your 
little  sister  and  brother,  and  Walker  for  two  days. 

The  President  is  doing  very  nicely.  There  is  no 
need,  so  far  as  he  is  concerned,  of  my  staying  here, 
but  your  Father  must,  and  he  cannot  be  left.  Alice 
is  going,  with  Mrs.  Sherman  and  Lizzie,  to-night  to 
Oaklands  in  Maryland,  and  will  probably  stay  till  we 
leave.     When,  oh  when,  will  this  be?     I  think  of  the 

[  216  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

cool  air  and  the  comforts  of  home,  till  my  head  swims. 
My  trunks  have  been  entirely  packed  for  a  long 
time,  and  I  sometimes  feel  as  though  I  should  not  get 
away  this  summer.  You  are  to  telegraph  me  if  you 
would  rather  go  to  New  London  or  home.  Emmons 
still  here.    With  love, 

xl.  S.  B. 

To  M.,  at  Augusta 

821  15th  Street,  July  15th  1881, 
Friday  morning 

M  dear  M.,  —  This  date  reminds  me,  that  I  have 
only  once  before  stayed  as  late  as  this  in  Wash- 
ington. In  1870,  on  this  very  day,  I  saw  Con- 
gress adjourn  in  palm  leaf  fans  and  linen  dusters, 
only  your  Father,  the  Speaker,  had  on  an  alpaca. 
He  sits  here  this  blessed  moment  in  another,  and  with 
him  Emmons,  in  shirt  sleeves,  lamenting  the  Solici- 
tor's decision,  which  is  against  him.  Tom  is  at  the 
door,  warding  off  one  of  your  Father's  country 
women,  and  down  stairs  the  laundresses  are  busily 
wrestling  with  Jacky's  and  Emmons's  linen,  leaving 
the  chamber  work  to  Charles  and  me.  That  excellent 
young  man  has  charge  of  the  third  floor,  while  I  man- 
age, or  womanage,  my  own  bed.  It  does  not  look 
handsome,  but  it  sleeps  well.  George  Stinson  break- 
fasted with  us,  and  afterwards  bade  us  good-bye  for 

[  217  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

N.  C.  I  only  hope  you  may  have  had  as  good  a  break- 
fast as  he  had.  Just  at  nine  last  night,  we  received 
Walker's  telegram  from  Augusta.  "  Swing  low, 
Sweet  Chariot,"  and  take  me  in  next  week,  for  all  the 
doctors,  male  and  female,  cannot  long  keep  Gaffy  on 
his  back,  and  when  he  is  pronounced  out  of  danger, 
we  expect  to  leave. 

I  spent  yesterday  in  reading  Don  John,  but  think 
the  author  should  have  kept  the  clue  for  identifica- 
tion, for  the  satisfaction  of  the  reader.  He  has  no 
right  to  assume  the  prerogative  of  Providence.  You 
should  hear  your  Father,  to  whom  I  have  told  the 
story,  scold  about  it.  I  think  Jean  Ingelow  must 
have  got  the  hint  for  the  story  from  the  Thorntons. 

I  have  not  been  at  the  White  House  for  two  days, 
but  Emmons  and  your  Father  were  over  last  night, 
found  everything  monotonously  comfortable.  And 
last  evening,  your  Father,  Tom  and  I  slowly  creaked 
out  in  the  State  coach  to  the  Soldiers'  Home.  Found 
there  fresh  air  in  abundance,  but  we  gave  it  all  up,  as 
we  came  back  on  to  the  concrete,  and  I  ate  my  dinner 
like  the  fine  ladies  of  Goldsmith.  Mr  Brown  tele- 
phoned over  Walker's  Ipswich  message.  Kiss  all  the 
Blaines  for  me  and  make  yourself  as  comfortable  as 
possible. 

H.  S.  B. 

[  218  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Washington  July  19th  1881 
Tuesday  afternoon 

Dear  M.,  —  Emmons  has  now  gone  to  the  station 
to  meet  Jacky  who  has  telegraphed  that  he  is  on  the 
Limited,  and  Emmons  is  going  to-morrow,  so  we  are 
to  have  changes  but  no  gain.  For  two  days  now,  it 
has  been  really  comfortable  here,  so  that  I  can  wear  a 
dress  and  stay  before  my  fellow  creatures.  Before 
lunch,  I  drove  out  to  the  house  with  your  Father, 
thence  to  the  State  Department,  getting  some  books, 
thence  home.  The  house  is  steadily  pushing  itself 
above  ground  now,  and  is  in  its  kitchen  windows  and 
pressed  brick  promising  to  the  eye  and  suggestive  to 
imagination,  and  my  mind  often  transports  me  to 
that  western  porch,  where  I  shall  love  to  steal  awhile 
away  from  every  worldly  care.  To-night,  I  shall 
probably  call  at  the  White  House,  the  least  pleasing 
hour  of  the  twenty-four,  as  I  am  obliged  to  content 
myself  with  a  mere  formality  when  I  long  to  be 
real  service. 

Walker  has  come  and  has  told  us  all  about  you.  I 
have  pumped  and  pumped,  and  at  last  the  stream 
refuses  to  flow.  We  have  had  a  long  drive,  Emmons 
acting  as  Jehu.  Have  squeaked  and  groaned  over 
about  fourteen  miles,  and  are  now  through  with  our 
eight  o'clock  dinner.  I  think  we  shall  certainly  be 
at  home  by  the  middle  of  next  week.     You  cannot 

[  219  ] 


nt    \ 

of     I 


LETTERS    OF 

think  how  much  I  want  to  be  there.  Love  to  J., 
H.  and  yourself.  Emmons  is  very  blue.  He  has 
to  go  to-morrow  morning. 

Always  yours, 

H  S  B 

Washington 
821  15th  Street,  July  22nd,  1881 

My  dear  M.,  —  Do  not  get  discouraged  over  the 
cook,  though  I  think  it  much  harder  for  you,  than  for 
anyone  else.  Let  her  wash  and  iron,  and  as  soon  as  I 
am  there,  Tuesday,  I  will  take  her  in  hand. 

We  had  the  agreeable  novelty  of  all  eating  break- 
fast together,  and  in  consequence  I  am  sustained  by 
a  passable  meal,  and  your  Father  and  Tom  and 
Walker  are  this  moment  testing  some  muscle  beaters, 
which  have  just  come  —  ting,  ting,  ting  is  resounding 
through  the  room.  We  expect  now  to  leave  here 
Monday,  though  I  hold  myself  ready  for  disappoint- 
ment. I  have  been  packed  so  long  and  have  seen  that 
journey  made  so  many  times,  I  have  little  confidence 
left.  Your  Father  saw  the  President  for  six  minutes 
yesterday  morning,  the  first  time  since  that  fateful 
Saturday.  They  had  put  him  (the  Prex)  off  day 
after  day,  till  he  would  be  denied  no  longer.  He 
looked  better  than  your  Father  expected  to  see  him, 
though  his  voice  was  weak.     Mrs  Garfield  told  me 

[  220  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

yesterday,  she  considered  him  out  of  danger.  Is  n't 
it  wonderfully  good?  Alice  is  still  at  Oaklands,  pro- 
posing to  return  tomorrow.  I  have  had  a  calm  and 
restful  two  weeks.  Every  night,  we  drive  out  to  the 
new  house,  which  interests  us  immensely,  but  it 
changes  now  rather  slowly,  there  being  a  paucity  of 
pressed  brick  layers. 

Emmons  telegraphed  yesterday  that  he  was  ar- 
rived all  right.  Since  commencing  this  letter,  I  have 
been  to  the  station  with  Tom,  to  arrange  about  a  car 
for  Tuesday.  Expect  us  then  Wednesday,  but  I  shall 
telegraph  our  departure  to  you.  We  have  tele- 
graphed about  the  bells.  Give  my  dearest  love  to 
those  dearest  children.  Did  H.  get  the  "  Little 
Earl "  to  read  which  I  sent  her?  'T  was  in  one  of 
the  trunks,  Seaside  Library. 

Most  affectionately, 

H.  S.  B. 

Washington,  Sunday,  July  24th,  1881. 

Dear  M.,  —  I  do  not  know  when  we  can  come 
home.  Your  Father  does  not  feel  justified  in  leaving, 
and  he  is  not  willing  for  me  to  leave  him. 

How  sorry  I  am,  and  what  a  summer  this  is !  But 
petty  disappointments  must  not  be  remembered.  I  am 
just  home  from  the  White  House,  where  I  have  been 
sitting  for  two  hours.     Saw  Drs.  Agnew  and  Hamil- 

[  221  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

ton,  the  Cabinet,  Mrs.  Garfield  and  Molly,  everyone 
looking  very  anxious  and  sober.  Mrs.  Garfield  said 
the  President  did  not  mind  much  who  was  in  the  room 
with  him  to-day,  and  then  he  was  in  a  drenching  per- 
spiration, which  was  not  good  for  him,  something 
I  am  afraid  like  a  night  sweat.  This  morning,  Dr. 
Agnew  made  an  incision,  and  opened,  as  he  suspected 
he  should,  a  pus  sac.  This  was  drained,  to  the  sen- 
sible relief  of  the  patient. 

I  cannot  tell  you  what  a  state  we  are  in.  My  head 
aches  violently,  the  day  is  very  sultry,  and  I  am  as 
disappointed  as  though  a  re-set  bone  had  to  be  re- 
broken.  People  act  like  lost  children.  If  I  could  go 
into  that  room,  I  should  have  an  opinion. 

Alice  came  home  yesterday.  It  is  very  dull  for  her 
here,  and  I  think  she  ought  to  go  to  Augusta.  I 
should  think  you  might  ask  Aunt  Susan  to  advise  the 
cook.  I  will  make  you  a  present  of  the  tennis.  Love 
to  my  darlings, 

H.  S.  B. 

Washington  July  25th  1881 

Dear  M.,  —  We  are  doing  nothing  but  wait,  and 

despair  and  hope.     Five  minutes  ago,  we  had  talked 

ourselves  into  an  abyss  of  misery,  and  three  minutes 

since  the  telephone  sounded,  and  Walker  called  over 

[  222  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

the  wire  that  Dr  Agnew  had  put  his  finger  into  the 
wound  more  than  an  inch  further  than  yesterday, 
that  pieces  of  bone  had  come  away,  relieving  the  stop- 
page of  the  pus,  and  that  the  President's  restlessness 
was  abating. 

Your  Father  and  I  came  back  a  few  minutes  ago 
from  our  daily  drive  to  the  house,  where  our  eyes  were 
delighted  by  the  sight  of  three  workmen  nooning 
under  a  tree,  and  from  the  White  House,  where  we 
saw  Dr  Woodward,  who  seemed  quite  hopeful  about 
its  poor  tenant. 

Alice  has  got  in  a  large  supply  of  books,  and  is 
reading  diligently  and  making  notes.  I  cannot  tell 
you  how  dull  and  stupid  I  am.  I  loathe  the  sight  of 
the  Department  carriage.  Our  table  is  an  offence  to 
me.  A  novel  takes  on  all  at  once,  from  the  times, 
a  sickly  association.  I  almost  wish  your  Father  did 
not  want  me  with  him  so  constantly  —  in  short,  I  am 
idle,  yet  not  rested,  of  use  to  no  one,  yet  tied  down  to 
others.  Do  make  yourself  as  comfortable  as  you 
can.  Let  Aunt  Susan  advise  the  cook.  I  am  sure 
she  will.     My  love  to  the  children  and  yourself. 

H  S  B 

Washington,  July  28th,  1881. 
Dear  M.,  —  You  can  tell  Mr.  Homan,  unless  the 
telegraph  intervenes  before  this  letter  reaches  you 

[  223  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

with  bad  news,  that  we  are  more  confident  of  the 
President's  recovery  this  morning,  than  we  have  ever 
been.  When  we  shall  get  away,  I  have  no  chance  of 
knowing.  Your  Father's  stay  here  gives  confidence 
to  every  friend  and  while  he  stays,  I  must.  I  do  not 
feel  that  this  is  necessary  but  he  does,  and  I  cannot 
unlearn  the  old  habit  of  regarding  his  word  as  law. 
Walker,  as  you  may  suppose,  is  more  than  satisfied, 
and  Alice  will  not  listen  to  the  proposition  of  going 
to  Augusta.  I  really  think  she  needs  the  change,  but 
I  have  no  fault  to  find  with  her.  We  are  all  bright 
again  about  the  President,  and  I  now  feel  a  certain 
assurance  as  to  his  being  carefully  looked  after,  which 
I  have  not  hitherto  had.  Doctors  Agnew  and  Hamil- 
ton will  keep  a  closer  watch  than  before  this  fright. 

If  I  could  feel  happy  about  the  Augusta  house 
and  children,  I  should  know  how  to  cultivate  patience, 
that  homely  but  friendly  herb,  but  with  a  house  half 
put  to  rights,  a  half-way  cook,  and  half  a  family, 
how  can  you  be  enjoying  a  perfect  whole?  No  one 
sympathizes  with  my  misgivings.  In  fact,  your 
Father  does  not  hesitate  to  call  it  selfishness  on  my 
part.  The  weather  is  deliciously  cool  this  morning. 
Use  the  carriages  all  you  can,  and  enjoy  yourself  in 
every  way.  Will  you  get  Miss  Potter  to  finish 
H.'s  blue  linen  dress?  The  sleeves  I  did  not  try 
to  make  without  trying.     This  is  all  there  is  to  do 

[  224  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

to  it.    If  the  pattern  for  the  yellow  gingham  is  there, 
she  can  finish  that  too,  and  her  old  last   summer's 
ginghams  can  be  given  to  Fred's  children. 
With  love  to  all, 

H.  S.  B. 


1881.    Sunday  evening. 

Dear  You-uns,  —  I  am  ashamed  that  I,  with 
nothing  to  do  for  myself,  should  not  have  written 
you  to-day,  but  truth  to  tell,  this  is  one  of  my,  or 
rather  our,  blue  days,  and  my  mind  refuses  long  to 
stray  from  that  sick  bed,  with  its  impending  issue 
and  all  that  thereon  hangs. 

We  are  greatly  disappointed  at  the  gravity  of  the 
bulletins.  Friday  I  felt  an  assurance  full  and  free 
that  he  would  recover.  Dr.  Hamilton  so  believed,  and 
so  believed  Dr.  Bliss.  But  the  gland  gives  trouble, 
nausea  has  returned,  and  plainly  I  do  not  see  how 
he  is  to  recover.  To-day  I  have  seen  the  Attorney 
General,  who  is  always  depressed;  Dr.  Agnew,  who 
spoke  with  great  caution,  but  hope  lies  at  the  bottom 
of  all  he  admits ;  Secretary  Lincoln,  whose  darkness 
is  unillumined  by  one  ray  of  courage ;  the  Hunts, 
who  are  rosy ;  Mrs.  Garfield,  who  is,  as  ever,  confi- 
dent ;  Rockwell,  whose  feathers  I  imagined  drooped ; 
vol.  i—15  [  225  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

and   Swayne,   who   announced   the   President   better 
than  ever.1 

I  was  at  the  White  House  at  one  o'clock  and  am 
now  going  over  again.  The  day  has  been  warm,  and 
the  night  is  warmer.  The  State  people  have  been  in, 
and  the  faithful  Bigelow,  and  Gen.  Noyes.2  Your 
Father  sits  here  writing  to  Arthur.  I  am  nervous 
and  can  scarcely  form  a  letter.  Yesterday  morning 
I  thought  we  might  leave  to-morrow  morning.  It  has 
gone  away  now  into  a  remote  future  —  my  leaving, 
I  mean.  Mr.  Barlow  has  sent  again  about  the  dog. 
Thanks  for  your  and  M.'s  letters.  Do  not  think 
about  us,  but  get  all  the  enjoyment  you  can  out  of 
home.  I  sent  a  box  yesterday,  containing  Alice's 
dress  and  some  soiled  linen.  She  must  excuse  the 
combination. 

With  love, 

H.  S.  B. 

Washington,  July  30th,  Sunday  noon 
Dear  M.,  —  I  am  writing  just  as  lunch  is  coming 
on  to  the  table,  nothing  promising  in  that  formal- 

1  Robert  Todd  Lincoln  of  Illinois,  oldest  son  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
was  Secretary  of  War  under  Presidents  Garfield  and  Arthur.  William 
Henry  Hunt  of  Louisiana,  afterward  minister  to  Russia,  was  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy.  Col.  A.  F.  Rockwell,  U.  S.  A.,  War  Superintendent 
of  Public  Buildings  from  1881  to  1885. 

2  Edward  F.  Noyes  of  Ohio,  Minister  to  France  in  the  administra- 
tion of  President  Hayes. 

[  226  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

ity,  nor  in  the  stray  callers  who  are  sitting  around 
in  the  room  —  Mrs.  Moore,  Col.  Forney,1  Mr.  Tres- 
cott,  Dudley,  the  new  Commissioner  of  Pensions, 
and  one,  already  tete-a-tete  with  your  Father,  whom 
I  do  not  know.  Walker  too  is  here,  reading  a  letter 
from  Mrs  Cameron,  which  I  have  just  answered, 
asking  me  to  visit  Harrisburg  —  and  Tom,  more 
homesick  than  myself,  if  that  be  possible,  is  sitting 
irresolutely  around,  uncertainly  looking  at  news- 
papers. When  he  told  me  just  now,  that  a  certain 
letter  was  in  a  certain  drawer,  instead  of  looking  for 
it,  I  knew  that  it  was  all  up  with  him.  Alice  having 
on  a  morning  gown,  is  obliged  to  flee  this  madding 
crowd,  and  is  far  in  her  own  room. 

I  am  not  without  hope  that  we  shall  see  Augusta 
this  week.  I  keep  myself  in  marching  order  all  the 
time,  instructing  the  laundresses  —  I  have  two  —  to 
empty  the  clothes  baskets  every  other  morning,  and 
as  they  are  on  probation,  everything  to  the  last  hand- 
kerchief comes  back  to  the  minute. 

Alice  dressed,  and  with  two  dimes  in  her  glove 
from  Jack,  started  out  for  church,  but  in  fifteen  min- 
utes disconsolately  came  back,  not  having  been  able 
to  find  any  edifice  open. 

The  President  is  doubtless  doomed  to  recovery,  not 

1  Col.  John  Wien  Forney,  journalist,  author,  and  Member  of  Con- 
gress, at  this  time  Collector  of  the  Port  of  Philadelphia. 

[  227  ] 


/' 


LETTERS    OF 

the  Potomac  flats,  nor  the  doctors,  falsely  so  called, 

nor  the  doctress,  nor  the  fool  friends  of  nurses,  nor 

the  poor  diet,  will  cut  the  vital  cord,  attenuated  as 

it  is,  and  because  he  lives,  we  shall  live  also,  and  at 

the  first  possible  moment  you  will  see  your  mother, 

who  longs  to  see  you  and  Jamie  and  H.  more  than 

you  can  possibly  conceive.     I  have  your  letter  this 

morning. 

H.  S.  B. 

To  Walker  in  Augusta 

Col.  Rockwell,  whom  I  sat  with  at  the  White  House 
for  half  an  hour  last  night,  presented  his  usual  fault- 
less appearance,  boutonniere,  silk-lined  lapelled  coat, 
cigar  in  hand,  etc.,  etc.  He  is  exceedingly  indignant 
over  the  stampede,  as  he  calls  it.  Says  the  President 
is  strong  and  bright  and  the  public  are  crazy,  that 
the  weakness  of  the  patient  is  greatly  exaggerated. 
I  asked  by  whom,  and  he  could  give  no  answer.  He 
thought  the  Secretary  of  State  ought  to  give  more 
reassuring  cablegrams  to  Lowell,1  —  generally  he 
seemed  to  be  mad.  To  suggest  anything  for  diet 
or  remedy  seems  to  act  upon  him  like  a  red  rag  on 
a  bull.  But  all  the  same,  after  a  while  it  leaks  out 
that  you  have  been  listened  to. 

Have  received  your  daily  letter,  Walker.  Thanks. 
Also  M.'s.     Thanks.     With  love, 

H.  S.  B. 

1  James  Russell  Lowell  was  then  Minister  to  Great  Britain. 

[  223  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

You  can't  imagine  anything  so  vile  as  Washing- 
ton. It  seems  like  a  weed  by  the  wayside,  covered 
with  dust,  too  ugly  for  notice. 

Washington  D.  C.  August  19th  1881. ■ 
Friday  morning. 

My  dear  Children,  —  I  am  just  through  with 
breakfast,  which  we  have  taken  at  home.  Bigelow 
sitting  by  for  company.  We  have  had  cold  roast 
beef,  eggs,  baked  sweet  potatoes,  hashed  potatoes, 
dry  toast,  French  loaf,  melon,  tea  and  coffee.  And 
when  I  this  moment  left  this  letter  to  go  up  stairs 
and  hunt  your  Father's  glasses,  I  found  my  bed  beau- 
tifully made,  so  Caroline  is  a  chambermaid,  —  an 
accomplishment  I  had  not  hitherto  given  her  credit 
for. 

There  was  not  a  leaf  of  tea,  a  lump  of  sugar,  an 

ounce  of  flour,  a  raisin,  spice  of  any  kind,  butter,  in 

fact  an  eatable  of  any  description,  in  the  house  when 

we  returned.      But   I   observed   the  Rev.    Solomon's 

shirts  hanging  on  our  line,  and  Caroline  herself  was 

in  the  house,  and  I  could  draw  warm  water,  though 

Caroline  assured  me  the  washing  had  been  done  away 
i 

from  the  house,  only  the  starching  being  indulged  in 
here.    A  nice  distinction,  as  was  said  of  the  Beauty. 
I    hardly    know    how    I    got    through    yesterday, 

1  Written  after  the  return  from  a  visit  to  Augusta. 

[  229  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

though  I  think  I  did  better  with  my  time  than  your 
Father  with  his.  I  wrote  some  letters,  visited  the 
house  twice,  where  your  Father's  activity  causes  me 
great  anxiety  as  he  now  mounts  the  ladders  and 
overlooks  the  second  story  floor.  Was  at  the  White 
House  twice,  and  took  quite  a  drive.  Poor  John, 
the  clouds  have  returned  after  much  rain,  and  neither 
the  morning  nor  the  evening  is  his  day.  One  thing 
is  in  my  favor,  I  have  an  appetite  and  with  my  bottle 
of  currant,  a  loaf  of  fruit  cake  Mrs  Hunter  has  made 
me,  and  a  Dutch  cheese,  I  bid  fair   soon  to  lose  it. 

As  to  the  President?  Your  Father  had  a  long  talk 
with  Dr.  Hamilton  last  night,  which  depressed  him 
and  rather  encouraged  me.  I  was  in  the  carriage, 
and  Dr.  Hamilton  stood  at  its  door,  so  I  heard  all. 
He  is  anxious  over  the  swelling  of  the  gland,  and  is 
apprehensive  that  the  President  may  have  to  stay  in 
bed  months,  but  the  chances  are  in  his  favor.  This 
is  bad  enough,  but  it  is  better  than  death,  though 
your  Father  says  an  administration  with  a  sick  bed 
for  its  centre  is  not  a  pleasant  thought.  The  Presi- 
dent took  the  whole  of  a  raw  onion  chopped  up  in 
vinegar,  and  Col.  Henry,1  who  told  Mr  Bigelow  this, 
attributes  the  whole  of  his  relapse  to  this  cause.  Dr 
Hamilton  admitted  to  us  that  there  was  perhaps  a 
cause  in  the  pus  which  had  not  been  reached.     The 

1  Col.  Guy  V.  Henry,  U.  S.  A. 
[  230  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

channel  of  the  wound,  they  now  find,  not  having  been 
cleaned  for  two  weeks.  They  thought  the  passage 
was  healing,  but  now  find  their  mistake. 


To  Walker,  in  Augusta 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington,  August  23rd,  1881. 
My  dear  Walker,  —  I  hope  you  will  dispose  of 
all  the  letters  possible  at  Augusta,  as  the  care  of  this 
ever-accumulating  debris  comes  upon  me,  and  you 
know  yourself  the  dreadful  impedimenta  which  one 
day's  mail  can  load  our  limited  writing  conveniences 
with.  True,  Mr  Trescott  and  Mr  Brown  wait  as- 
siduous for  hours  in  the  parlor,  and  their  chief  enter- 
tains them  and  himself  often  with  bright  talk,  and 
William  sits  in  the  hall,  rising  like  a  jack-in-the-box 
whenever  my  august  foot  crosses  the  threshold,  but 
all  the  attaches  of  the  State  Department  fail  to 
satisfy  when  I  withhold  my  hand.  So  I  consign  all 
the  envelopes  to  the  waste  basket,  and  put  my  ele- 
gant chirography  on  to  the  numerous  letters  from 
Victor  Drummond,1  et  al.  and  breathe  freely  only  when 
I  have  put  a  rubber  strap,  as  good  as  a  lock  and  key, 
around  the  file.     For  I  know  your  Father  is  never 

1  Victor  Arthur  Wellington  Drummond,  British  Charge  d' Affaires 
at  Wrashington  in  1877,  in  1880,  and  again  in  1881 ;  knighted  in  1903. 

[  231   ] 


LETTERS    OF 

going  to  disturb  anything  so  clerkly  and  tidy  as  a 
bundle  of  letters.  I  was  at  the  White  House  last 
night,  when  I  got  another  pound  added  to  my  already 
hopeless  condition,  Miss  Edson  1  having,  confidentially 
to  Mrs.  James,1  abandoned  hope.  Why  indeed  should 
that  angel  tarry  longer  by  that  bed:  when  the  poor 
sufferer  has  lost  his  own  identity,  —  praying  to  have 
that  other  man  taken  from  him  away,  and  to  be  re- 
lieved from  that  other  man's  face  which  cleaves  to 
and  drags  upon  his?  Mrs.  Garfield  had  retired,  and 
about  ten  or  perhaps  later,  we  came  home,  when  your 
Father  penned  his  bulletin  to  Lowell,  which  Sevellon 
Brown  2  at  eleven  took  to  the  telegraph  office  for  him. 
We  were  just  in  the  seclusion  of  our  own  room  when 
a  carriage  drove  up.  Of  course  we  think  everything 
unusual  means  the  White  House,  but  this  was  Rams- 
dell,2  who  had  come,  as  it  were,  to  hear  his  doom  from 
our  lips.  Your  Father  went  down  and  let  him  in,  but 
alas  could  give  him  no  comfort.  I  might  as  well 
stop  writing,  my  interruptions  are  so  discouraging. 
The  S.  of  S.  left  his  glasses  at  the  White  House  last 

1  Susan  A.  Edson,  a  physician  from  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  in  constant  at- 
tendance on  President  Garfield.  For  this  service  Congress  appropri- 
ated to  her  $3000.  Mrs.  James  was  the  wife  of  Thomas  L.  James, 
then  Postmaster-General. 

2  Sevellon  A.  Brown,  for  many  years  chief  clerk  of  the  State 
Department.  Daniel  Ramsdell  was  correspondent  of  the  Philadelphia 
Press  at  Washington. 

[  232  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

night.  Mine  of  course,  when  he  needed  them,  grazed 
his  nose.  So  I  sent  William  to  the  Executive  Man- 
sion to  get  his.  They  were  not  there,  but  he  had 
borrowed  Dr  Bliss's,  so  I  have  had  to  go  down  town 

and  purchase  for  myself,  and  then  Mrs  M has 

just  been  in,  and  now  we  have  been  to  the  house, 
though  I  could  not  see  that  one  brick  had  been  laid 
on  another  since  we  were  there  yesterday. 

Caroline  is  making  me  an  apple  dumpling  for 
dinner,  but  I  have  no  interest  in  anything.  I  want 
to  go  home,  and  all  the  circumstances  are  monstrous. 
I  spare  you  myself,  which  is  a  poor,  mean,  warmly- 
dressed,  moist,  dissatisfied  body.  Do  be  kind  to  my 
poor  motherless  children,  and  whenever  you  wake  at 
night,  think  of  me  sleeplessly  tossing  and  striking 
out  at  mosquitoes. 

H.  S.  B. 

We  feel  this  morning  a  little  bit  better  about  the 
object  of  all  our  thoughts. 

Washington  August  25th  1881. 
My  dear  Walker,  —  I  suppose  you  can  see  as 
well  as  another  that  hope  is  over.  This  dreadful  sick- 
ness will  soon  be  over.  Every  night  when  I  go  to  bed 
I  try  to  brace  for  that  telephone  which  I  am  sure 
before  morning  will  send  its  shrill  summons  through 

[  233  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

our  room.  The  morning  is  a  little  reassuring,  for 
light  itself  gives  courage.  Your  Father  is  in  the 
parlor  at  this  moment,  where  he  has  been  for  an  hour 
with  Mr.  Chaffee  '  and  Gen.  Logan  2  —  quite  a  re- 
prieve for  me,  who  in  the  absence  of  better  company, 
follow  him  upstairs  and  down  like  a  dog.  And  yester- 
day Mr.  Davis  3  of  West  Virginia  was  here,  which  also 
helped.  Mr.  Brown  stays  here  too  a  great  deal,  and 
every  night  goes  with  us  to  the  White  House,  wait- 
ing for  your  Father's  despatches.  We  had  no  inti- 
mation yesterday  of  the  proposed  incision  into  the 
perotic  gland.  It  was  made,  as  I  understand,  be- 
cause of  the  danger  of  suffocation. 

To  M.,  in  Augusta 

Washington  Sept  1st  1881,  9  p.  m. 
My  deae  M.,  —  Your  Father  and  Mr.  Allen  have 
just  left  for  the  White  House  to  get  the  data  for  the 
Lowell  telegram.  When  you  read  those  frank  and 
discriminating  telegrams  in  the  morning  Journal  you 
may  always  see  behind  them  your  Father  and  the 
evening  walk  to  the  White  House,  and  the  interviews 

1  Ex  U.  S.  Senator  Jerome  B.  Chaffee  of  Colorado. 

2  Gen.  John  A.  Logan,  U.  S.  Senator  from  Illinois,  and  Repub- 
lican vice-presidential  candidate  with  Mr.  Blaine  in  1884. 

3  Henry  Gassaway  Davis,  U.  S.  Senator  from  West  Virginia  and 
Democratic  vice-presidential  candidate  with  Judge  Alton  B.  Parker 
in  1904. 

[  234  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

with  the  doctors,  when  the  truth  is  made  to  stand 
and  deliver  herself,  for  the  benefit  of  England  and 
America.  As  I  was  within  those  formerly  awe-inspir- 
ing portals  yesterday,  twice,  I  have  stayed  at  home, 
and  hence  this  note. 

We  have  agreed  that  this  is  the  most  discourag- 
ing day  we  have  yet  had,  the  heat  is  so  great,  and 
every  particle  of  moisture  seems  to  be  dried  out  of 
earth,  air  and  sky.  I  am  not  sleepy,  but  neither  am 
I  hungry.  Yesterday,  Mr.  Robeson  dined  with  us, 
and  we  had  a  soup  and  two  other  courses  and  wines. 
I  cannot  tell  you  how  horrid  it  was.  Nothing  seemed 
right,  and  the  door  bell  rang  and  Lewis  was  always 
out  of  the  room,  and  your  Father  insisted  on  chicken 
when  steak  was  the  course,  and  altogether  we  agreed 
not  to  ask  any  brother  again,  not  though  he  were 
starving. 

I  have  not  sent  the  passes  to  Walker,  because  we 
are  hoping  to  use  them  ourselves.  I  tried  to  talk 
your  Father  into  leaving  at  two  o'clock  to-day,  but 
he  could  not  quite  do  that.  He  will  try  to  urge  on 
Mrs.  Garfield  to-night  the  importance  of  a  change 
for  the  President.  Poor  dear  Gaffy,  how  wretched  it 
is !  Wounded  and  sore  and  hurt  to  the  death,  he 
now  to  save  his  life,  must  dare  to  lose  it.  I  send  into 
his  unseen  room  sympathy  enough  to  float  his  bed, 
but  he  never  knows  it. 

[  235  ] 


) 


LETTERS    OF 

I  have  nothing  to  tell.  A  great  basket  of  delicious 
grapes  has  just  come  in,  and  I  have  had  interesting 
letters  from  all  sorts  of  people,  and  when  everything 
else  fails,  there  is  the  telephone.  Mr.  Phelps  has 
written  me  a  long  letter,  in  which  he  inquires  for 
M.  filia.  Old  Judge  Black  1  has  been  here  all  day, 
talking  in  an  old  fashioned  delightful  manner.  I  do 
hope  I  shall  get  home  before  Jamie  leaves.  Pity  the 
sorrows  of  a  poor  old  mother,  and  tell  Walker  "  I 
want  to  go  home."  Allen  thought  judgment  was 
spelled  with  an  e  after  the  g.  Imagine  your  Father's 
satisfaction  at  worsting  him. 

All  sorts  of  flying  creatures  are  coming  in,  too 
much  light.  I  leave  the  world  to  darkness  and  to 
thee.     With  love, 

XX.  S.  B. 


We  are  dreadfully  anxious  about  that  dear  Gaffy, 
and  your  Father  much  exercised  on  the  question  of 

1  Jeremiah  Sullivan  Black,  Associate  Justice,  and  later  Chief 
Justice,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania,  delivered  the  eulogy 
on  President  Andrew  Jackson,  and  was  a  member  of  President  Bu- 
chanan's Cabinet  first  as  Attorney-General  and  next  as  Secretary  of 
State,  succeeding  Lewis  Cass  of  Michigan.  At  the  close  of  the  Bu- 
chanan administration,  Judge  Black  resumed  his  law  practice,  serving 
in  the  Andrew  Johnson  impeachment  trial,  the  Samuel  J.  Tilden  and 
the  Vanderbilt  will  cases.  He  was  a  "  Campbellite  "  by  religion,  and 
wrote  a  book  in  reply  to  Robert  G.  Ingersoll. 

[  236  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

disability.  Should  Arthur  1  be  brought  to  the  front, 
and  how,  and  if  this  be  done,  how  shall  he  be 
retired  ? 

Washington,  Sunday  evening,  Sept  4  1881 
Deab,  M.,  —  Once  more,  everything  is  indecision 
with  us,  —  shall  the  President  be  moved?  Mrs.  Gar- 
field is  anxious  for  it,  but  I  fear  that  if  the  excitement 
of  getting  him  down  stairs  or  any  other  phase  of  the 
journey,  should  affect  him,  he  might  faint,  and  if  he 
should,  he  would  never  recover  consciousness.  He  is 
very  weak,  and  there  is  little  to  build  on.  Should  he 
go  away,  your  Father  will  go  with  or  immediately 
follow  him,  and  I  shall  take  the  N.  E.  train  the  same 
day  for  home. 

I  have  almost  expected  to  get  away  tomorrow,  but 
my  last  call  at  the  White  House,  from  which  I  am 
just  returned,  gives  me  no  hope  of  that.  I  was  there 
this  morning  and  found  Mrs.  Garfield  ready  for  to- 
morrow. Nothing  can  exceed  the  dryness  of  the  air 
and  disagreeability  of  the  city.  I  lose  heart  and 
spirit  —  then  they  come  back  to  me  of  their  own 
accord.  I  do  wish  Jamie  were  not  going  to  Exeter. 
Can't  you  talk  him  into  waiting  a  year,  and  having 
a  tutor? 

1  Chester  A.  Arthur  of  New  York,  twenty-first  President  of  the 
U.  S.,  at  that  time  Vice-President.     "The  country's  ordeal  in  con- 

[  237  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

Mrs.  Morton  has  written  that  you  are  to  come 
over,  and  she  will  place  you  at  a  school.  Excuse 
brevity.  I  am  not  low  spirited,  but  I  consider  Gaffy's 
case  very  unpromising.  I  doubt  if  I  ever  meet  the 
dear  old  fellow  again,  in  these  walks  of  common  life. 
With  much  love, 

II.  S.  B. 


West  End  Hotel,  Long  Branch, 

Thursday  morning,  Sept  8th,  1881 

Dearest   Children,  —  I   was    packed    for   home 
Tuesday  morning,  and  your  Father  for  this  place, 

nection  with  Garfield's  death  led  to  an  important  piece  of  legislation. 
Few  were  then  or  are  now  aware  by  what  a  slender  thread  the  orderly 
government  of  our  country  hung  between  the  shooting  of  Garfield  in 
July,  1881,  and  the  second  special  session  of  Congress  the  following 
October.  The  law  of  March,  1792,  declares  that  in  case  the  Vice- 
President  dies,  is  removed,  or  is  disqualified,  'the  President  of  the 
Senate  pro  tempore,  or,  if  there  is  none,  then  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  for  the  time  being,  shall  act  as  President  till  the 
disability  is  removed  or  a  President  elected.'  But  at  the  time  of 
Garfield's  assassination  neither  a  President  pro  tempore  of  the  Senate, 
nor  a  Speaker  of  the  House  existed."  ...  A  bill  passed  in  1886  pro- 
vides "that  if  the  Presidency  and  the  Vice-Presidency  are  both  vacant, 
the  Presidency  passes  to  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  in  the  historical 
order  of  the  establishment  of  their  departments,  beginning  with  the 
Secretary  of  State."  —  E.  Benjamin  Andrews:  The  United  States 
in  Our  Own  Time. 

[238] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

when  Mrs.  Garfield  sent  me  an  affecting  little  note, 
which  determined  me  to  heed  your  Father's  advice  and 
stick  to  him,  so  with  the  aid  of  Allen  and  Adee,1  whose 
name  ought  to  be  spelled  Aider,  I  got  off  at  10:30, 
and  after  as  hot  a  day's  journey  as  it  was  ever  my 
privilege  to  suffer  from,  all  sweat  and  dust,  we 
reached  this  place  at  six  that  evening.  All  our  jour- 
ney through  we  were  cheered  by  bulletins  from  the 
President's  car,  telling  us  of  the  comfortable  progress 
he  was  making,  and  as  we  knew  that  some  of  the 
doctors  had  feared  the  worst  from  the  excitement 
and  risk,  each  mile  that  we  travelled  gave  us  a  re- 
newed assurance  that  the  right  step  had  at  last  been 
taken.  But  after  getting  here,  after  looking  at  the 
ocean  with  emotion,  he  is  just  the  same.  I  do  not 
believe  he  will  recover. 

This  hotel  is  about  a  mile  from  the  Franklyn  cot- 
tage, where  he  is.  Every  evening,  the  whole  Cabinet 
with  its  wife,  drive  over  to  see  the  doctors  and  Mrs. 
Garfield,  but  I  cannot  explain  why  everything  is  so 
unsatisfactory. 

After  breakfast:  Henry  has  appeared,  and  is  at 
this  moment  seated  on  the  piazza  with  your  Father, 
and  Mr.  Cohen  and  Mr.  Seli^man  and  others,  and 

1  Alvey  A.  Adee,  chief  of  the  Diplomatic  Bureau  of  the  State 
Department. 

[  239  ] 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

Dana  Horton  1  is  here,  not  too  wise,  just  wise  enough, 
and  the  President  is  better,  and  at  five  we  are  going 
out  to  drive  with  Mr  Montgomery.  And  this  is 
about  all  there  is  of  it.  Our  rooms  are  much  the 
best  I  have  ever  seen  in  a  seaside  hotel,  and  the  table 
is  good.  I  cannot  get  away  till  next  week,  but  hope 
to  very  soon. 


(fragment) 

1881 
(written  from  Elberon  in  September)  * 

but  I  am  tired  out.     I  do  not  suppose  I  slept  two 
hours  last  night;    then  the  day  has  been  full  of  ex- 

1  Samuel  Dana  Horton,  political  economist  and  author.  Secretary 
of  the  International  Monetary7  Conference  held  at  Paris  in  1878. 

2  President  Garfield  died  at  Elberon  on  September  19.  By  previous 
arrangement  a  post  mortem  examination  of  the  body  of  the  President 
was  made  in  the  presence,  and  with  the  assistance  of  Drs.  Hamilton, 
Agnew,  Bliss,  Barnes,  Woodward,  Reyburn,  Andrew  H.  Smith  of 
Elberon,  and  Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  D.  S.  Lamb  of  the  Army 
Medical  Museum  of  Washington.  The  operation  was  performed  by 
Dr.  Lamb.  "It  was  found  "  (the  report  reads),  "that  the  ball,  after 
fracturing  the  right  eleventh  rib,  had  passed  through  the  spinal  col- 
umn in  front  of  the  spinal  cord,  fracturing  the  body  of  the  first  lumbar 
vertebra,  driving  a  number  of  small  fragments  of  bone  into  the  adja- 
cent soft  parts  and  lodging  below  the  pancreas  about  two  and  one- 
half  inches  to  the  left  of  the  spine  and  behind  the  peritoneum,  where 
it  had  become  completely  encysted. 

"The  immediate  cause  of  death  was  secondary  hemorrage  from 
one  of  the  mesenteric  arteries  adjoining  the  track  of  the  ball,  the 
blood  rupturing  the  peritoneum,  and  nearly  a  pint  escaping  into  the 
abdominal  canty.     This  hemorrage  is  believed  to  have  been  the 

[  240  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

citement  of  a  most  painful  character,  and  I  am  going 
to  see  Mrs.  Garfield  again  to-night.  Then  the  jour- 
cause  of  the  severe  pain  in  the  lower  part  of  the  chest  complained  of 
just  before  death.  An  abscess  cavity  six  inches  by  four  was  found  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  gall  bladder,  between  the  liver  and  the  transverse 
colon,  which  were  strongly  adherent.  It  did  not  involve  the  sub- 
stance of  the  liver,  no  communication  was  found  between  it  and  the 
wound. 

"A  long  suppurating  channel  extended  from  the  external  wound 
between  the  loin  muscles  and  the  right  kidney,  almost  to  the  right 
groin.  This  channel,  now  known  to  be  due  to  the  burrowing  of  pus 
from  the  wound,  was  supposed  during  life  to  have  been  the  track  of 
the  ball. 

"  On  an  examination  of  the  organs  of  the  chest  evidences  of  severe 
bronchitis  were  found  on  both  sides,  with  broncho-pneumonia  of  the 
lower  portions  of  the  right  lung,  and,  though  to  a  much  less  extent, 
of  the  left.  The  lungs  contained  no  abscesses  and  the  heart  no  clots. 
The  liver  was  enlarged  and  fatty,  but  not  from  abscesses.  Nor  were 
any  found  in  any  other  organ,  except  the  left  kidney,  which  contained 
near  its  surface  a  small  abscess  about  one-third  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 
"In  renewing  the  history  of  the  case  in  connection  with  the  autopsy 
it  is  quite  evident  that  the  different  suppurating  surfaces,  and  espe- 
cially the  fractured,  spongy  tissue  of  the  vertebrae,  furnish  a  sufficient 
explanation  of  the  septic  condition  which  existed." 
[Signed^  D.  W.  Bliss, 

J.  K.  Barnes, 
J.  J.  Woodward, 
Robert  IIeyburn, 
Frank  H.  Hamilton, 
D.  Hayes  Agnew, 
Andrew  H.  Smith, 
D.  S.  Lamb. 
Official  Bulletin  of  the  Autopsy  on  the  Body  of 

President  Garfield :  Medical  Record,  New  York, 
1881,  vol.  xx,  p.  364. 
In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  from  the  day  of  the 
assassination,  Mr.  Blaine  insisted  that  the  above-mentioned  "long 
vol.  i  —16  [  241  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

ney  to-morrow.  Mr.  Osgood  expects  to  be  home 
Thursday  at  eight,  and  he  can  tell  you  everything. 
Please  send  this  letter  to  Abby.  The  ink  is  so  pale 
I  cannot  see  it.  Do  look  out  that  Jamie  has  his 
things,  and  write  him  every  day.  Goodbye,  with 
love  to  all, 

H  SB. 


To  Alice,  in  Augusta 

October  23rd  1881 
Washington  4  p.m.  Sunday  afternoon 

Dear  Alice,  —  If  my  letter  leaves  off  in  the 
middle  without  formal  end,  you  will  understand  that 
I  am  hopelessly  interrupted.  Tom  is  lighting  the 
lamp  at  the  table,  and  your  Father  is  reading  a  State 
paper  at  the  other  window,  I  being  at  the  first,  to 
Mr.  Chandler.  How  he  manages  to  keep  his  mind 
single  for  any  subject  I  cannot  imagine,  as  I  have 
never  in  all  my  long  and  varied  experience  seen  any- 
thing like  the  rush  to  the  house.  Yet  to-day  he  has 
written  directions  for  papers,  has  seen  men  on  private 

suppurating  channel  "  could  not  have  been  the  trail  of  the  bullet.  He 
was  slightly  deaf  in  the  left  ear,  and  by  the  distinct  sound  of  the 
bullet,  he  was  convinced  that  it  had  passed  his  right  ear  and  had 
consequently  entered  the  President's  body  at  a  different  angle  from 
the  one  assumed  by  the  doctors'  theories.  The  autopsy  alas !  proved 
that  he  had  been  correct. 

[  242  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

and  public  business,  has  seen  foreign  Ministers,  has 
had  exhaustive  talks  on  matters  of  vital  importance, 
and  all  this  with  every  room  filled,  —  apparently  with- 
out disturbance  to  himself.  Miss  Knox  was  so 
prompt  and  successful  in  her  fits  that  we  found  we 
need  not  wait  for  the  night  train,  so  as  I  say  we  got 
over  here  late  last  night.  Maj.  and  Mrs.  and  Lanier 
Dunn,  and  Lizzie  Cameron,  were  in  the  same  car,  and 
Gen.  Thomas  and  Mrs.  Ewing  on  the  train,  and  Vir- 
ginia to  Philadelphia,  so  that  we  managed  not  to  feel 
too  tired.  At  the  station,  which  I  am  sorry  to  say, 
we  reached  an  hour  late,  we  found  Walker  in  evening 
dress  just  roused  from  a  nap  which  he  had  been  tak- 
ing, leaning  against  one  of  the  uprights  of  the  depot. 
He  had  with  him  a  carriage,  not  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment, and  we  were  soon,  a  little  before  twelve,  at 
home,  where  your  Father  met  us,  also  in  evening 
dress,  —  more  glad,  he  said,  to  see  us  than  ever  be- 
fore in  his  life.  By  the  time  we  were  well  in,  Walker 
had  whisked  him  off  to  a  German  banquet,1  while  Tom, 
M.  and  I  sat  down  to  supper.  The  house  looked 
beautifully,  though  I  discover  to-day  that  from  top 
to  bottom  it  needs  cleaning.     Not  a  pane  of  glass, 

1  Banquet  given  in  honor  of  the  German  guests  visiting  this  coun- 
try to  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  the  surrender  at  Yorktown.  The 
chief  foreign  guests  were  the  Marquis  de  Rochambeau  from  France, 
and  Baron  von  Steuben  from  Germany. 

[  243  ] 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

not  a  panel  of  a  door  can  be  spared.  And  then  my 
window  curtains  that  went  to  Missouri  —  how  I  want 
them! 

xi.  S.  B. 

To  M.,  in  England 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington,  Nov  6,  1881, 
Sunday  morning 

Dearest  M.,  —  It  is  my  sacred  duty  as  well  as 
highest  privilege,  to  inaugurate  this  morning,  a 
daily  correspondence,  which  I  hope  will  have  on  its 
many  pages,  only  the  record  of  happy  hours.  After 
you  had  left  us,  not  we  you,  yesterday  morning,  and 
we  turned  away  from  the  pier  only  as  the  "  Illinois  " 
was  vanishing,  mindful  of  your  Father's  injunction 
not  to  watch  the  departing  out  of  sight,  we  drove 
back  to  the  Continental,  where  my  first  overt  act  was 
to  go  to  the  breakfast  table  and  eat  a  quantity  of 
buckwheat  cakes.  The  other  H.  soon  joined  me  and 
did  likewise.  We  neither  of  us  had  the  slightest 
previous  intention  of  so  doing,  but  the  sight  of  the 
three  Sherman  sisters  indulging  in  the  sweets  of 
honey  and  buckwheat  and  each  other,  proved  irresist- 
ibly attractive,  and  you  know  by  this  time,  it  seemed 
about  the  eleventh  hour  of  the  day.  I  spent  the 
rest  of  the  forenoon  attending  to  H's  wardrobe,  and 
looking  at  old  furniture,  getting  back  to  the  hotel 

[  244  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

in  time  to  lunch  with  your  Father,  preparatory  to  his 
leaving  for  New  York  on  the  Limited.  I  looked  so 
good  to  him,  that  he  determined  to  go  back  to  Wash- 
ington with  us,  but  Jacky's  entreaties  prevailed,  and 
the  original  plan  was  carried  out.  After  their  de- 
parture, I  had  time  to  shoe  and  stocking  your  little 
sister,  and  when  I  send  you  her  picture,  you  may 
consider  that  from  the  crown  of  her  head  to  the  sole 
of  her  foot,  she  is  a  monument  of  the  Philadelphia 
trip,  and  a  perpetual  reminder  of  you,  a  sort  of  Guy 
Fawkes  to  be  forever  associated  with  the  5th  of  No- 
vember. Before  your  Father  left  Philadelphia,  he  sent 
telegrams  saying  that  you  had  sailed,  to  Aunt  Susan, 
to  Cousin  Abby,  to  Mr.  Manley,  to  J.  G.  B.  Jr.  Of 
course  he  took  to  himself  all  the  credit  for  the  final 
perseverance  of  St.  Margaret,  but,  dear  soul!  who 
finds  fault  with  the  weaknesses  of  the  mighty?  All 
the  rest  of  your  friends,  including  Lizzie  and  Rachel, 
left  Philadelphia  on  the  six  o'clock  train,  reaching 
Washington  at  ten.  Whatever  else  we  have  gained 
or  lost  in  Philadelphia,  we  have  certainly  added  to 
our  belongings,  for  Emmons  was  encumbered  with 
a  hat-box  and  hand  bag,  an  umbrella,  and  a  bonnet 
box  containing  Alice's  veil  and  H.'s  new  hats ;  then 
we  had  a  box  of  shoes,  and  nobody  knows  what  else 
beside;  but  in  spite  of  all  these  minor  burdens,  and 
the  great  one  of  a  daughter  at  sea,  and  the  incon- 

[  245  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

venience  of  no  chairs  in  the  Pullman,  the  hundred 
miles  between  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  slipped  by 
like  a  watch  in  the  night.  I  hope  you  noticed  the 
beauty  of  the  heavens,  for  I  suppose  there  was  no 
land  for  you  to  look  on.  Lewis  met  us  at  the  station 
with  a  carriage,  and  Maggie  Nurse  was  waiting  to 
open  the  door  upon  all  the  light  and  color  and  warmth 
of  the  old  house,  as  well  as  one  of  Caroline's  best 
suppers. 

Monday,  10  a.  m. 
An  eight  o'clock  breakfast,  and  a  rainy  day  give 
me  the  prospect  of  long  uninterrupted  hours,  which 
I  shall  improve  to  the  advantage  of  Alice's  old  black 
silk,  which  needs  an  extra  ruffle,  and  H.'s  old  gold, 
which  is  in  a  similar  predicament.  Our  early  break- 
fast was  for  Emmons's  benefit,  who  wants  to  get  off 
for  New  York  at  10:30  to  attend  the  ball  this  even- 
ing, for  which  your  Father  has  telegraphed  him. 
He  is  now  at  the  Post  Office  Department,  trying  to 
get  his  business  started.  Mrs.  Hale  spent  a  good 
part  of  the  day  with  me  yesterday,  and  Emmons 
breakfasted  and  dined  at  the  B.'s ;  but  while  I  have 
you  in  all  my  thoughts,  I  think  they  were  mostly 
congratulatory  at  your  really  carrying  out  this  long 
arranged  plan.  I  have  had  a  great  shock  this  morn- 
ing, occasioned  by  the  sight  of  as  innocent  an  object 

[  246  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

as  your  clothes  bag,  which,  with  its  double  row  of 
mourning  strings,  confronted  me  as  I  pulled  out  one 
of  the  secretary  drawers  this  morning.  I  shall  now 
dedicate  it  to  Alice  and  Fort  Leavenworth,  but  what 
becomes  of  ail  the  sentiment  I  stitched  into  it? 
H.  is  very  blue  this  morning,  nor  does  her  story 
of  the  "  Buried  Alive,"  which  in  regular  order,  she 
has  now  reached  in  her  Arabian  Nights,  tend  to  ele- 
vate her  spirits.  To  aid  in  this  highly  desirable 
elevation,  I  have  proposed  that  she  take  Maggie 
Nurse  out  to  see  the  new  house,  so  they  are  now 
waiting  for  John,  as  it  is  too  wet  for  walking. 
Unless  I  begin  now  to  tell  you  what  we  have  to  eat,  I 
do  not  see  how  I  can  entertain  you  the  remainder  of 
this  sheetful,  and  in  fact,  Caroline  has  just  appeared 
with  a  large  yellow  apple  on  a  china  dish  to  see  if 
I  consider  it  ripe  enough  for  mince  pies,  and  what 
H.  calls  "  invisible  moose."  Alice  has  just  been  in 
to  see  Rachel's  wrap,  which  she  is  anxious  to  sell, 
but  finds  her  gone  to  market,  and  in  general,  the 
females  of  your  family  are  left  to  themselves  and  the 
weather,  and  though  not  in  one  accord,  are  in  one 
place,  and  the  Harriets  send  you  volumes  of  love 
and  good  wishes  enough  to  last  you  all  your  stay 
away. 

From  your  own, 

Mother. 
[  247  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

821  Fifteenth  St  Washington,  Nov  9,  1881. 

Wednesday  afternoon. 

Dearest  M.,  —  A  very  dark  day  is  drawing  to  an 
end.  I  have  not  been  out,  but  Emmons  came  while  we 
were  at  breakfast,  and  Lizzie  Cameron,  with  Rachel 
and  Lizzie  Sherman,  has  been  here  to  lunch.  I  hope 
you  escape  this  wretchedly  lifeless  weather,  which  we 
are  suffering  from  all  the  time,  a  wet  Indian  summer. 
I  have  not  been  "  at  home  "  this  afternoon,  though 
two  or  three  got  in  accidentally  —  the  Danish  Min- 
ister and  Mme.  de  Bille !  and  Mr.  Gallaudet.2  The  last 
came  to  consult  me  about  a  memorial  service  to  Gar- 
field as  a  man  of  letters.  Caroline  gave  us  a  lovely 
lunch,  and  we  all  wished  you  here  and  thought  and 
spoke  of  you  constantly.  Sanford's3  oranges  and 
mandarines  graced  the  table,  though  I  could  wish  he 
had  left  them  to  ripen  on  the  tree  a  little  more  sweetly. 
Your  Father  and  Jaeky  are  still  in  New  York,  though 
I  think  it  would  be  more  sensible  if  Walker  would 
come  home,  for  Emmons  says  he  is  dead  tired.  They 
could  not  wake  him  up  to  go  to  the  ball.  Your 
Father  stays  now  to  oblige  Arthur,  who  wants  him 
to  come  over  with  him. 

1  The  Danish  representative  in  1880-82  was  Carl  Stern  Ander- 
son de  Bille,  who  was  the  Charge  d' Affaires  from  1880-82,  and 
then  recognized  as  Minister  Resident. 

2  Edward  Miner  Gallaudet,  Ph.D.,  of  Philadelphia. 

3  Henry  D.  Sanford,  afterwards  Minister  to  Belgium. 

[  248  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Nov.  13. 
Your  Father  is  delighted  to  be  home  again,  and  it 
seems  good  to  me,  I  assure  you.  This  morning  we 
have  been  out  to  the  house,  in  and  over  it.  I  have 
thought  a  good  deal  about  it,  this  last  dark,  stormy, 
gloomy  November  week.  Your  Father  has  retired 
from  the  State  Committee,  after  a  chairmanship  of 
twenty-one  years.  Gen.  Corkhill1  is  in  the  parlor,  talk- 
ing of  the  Guiteau  trial,  which  commences  to-morrow. 
Do  you  know,  there  is  quite  a  desire  that  he  may  be 
convicted  of  insanity?  A  more  dangerous  sentiment 
could  hardly  become  fashionable.  Mrs.  Lambard  has 
written  me  a  letter  of  sympathy  at  losing  you,  and 
having  you  on  the  ocean,  which  reminds  me  that  my 
anxiety  on  the  latter  account  is  almost  over.  Yes, 
you  aie  now  nearly  through  with  your  eighth  day, 
and  I  hope  soon  to  hear  of  your  arrival  in  England. 
Maggie  nurse  has  gone  to  visit  her  aunt's  grave  and 
to  lay  on  it  a  wreath,  to-wit,  one  of  the  calico  baskets 
which  the  Public  Gardens  twice  a  week  send  to  me. 
She  has  a  new  crepe  hat,  made  from  the  Garfield  por- 
trait mourning  drapery. 

1  Gen.  Corkhill  conducted  the  prosecution  of  Guiteau. 


[  249  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

Monday. 

Mr.  Sanford  has  returned,  as  a  call  from  him  at 
eleven  o'clock  last  night  only  too  surely  testifies. 
Walker  and  I  were  nodding  at  each  other  over  the 
parlor  fire,  and  your  Father  and  Mr.  Chandler  dis- 
cussing the  Canal  paper  in  the  dining  room,  when 
on  our  dullness  and  absorption  in  national  affairs, 
entered  this  Florida  orange  merchant.  He  sails 
Wednesday  on  the  White  Star  Line.  Every  steamer 
seems  now  to  carry  out  some  friend  of  yours.  We 
expect  Jamie  and  Emmons  to-morrow,  then,  as  in 
Philadelphia,  I  shall  have  five  children  with  me. 

Your  Father  is  making  ready  to  present  Mr.  West 1 
to  the  President.  He  is  as  busy  as  can  be,  and  you 
know  what  that  means  with  him.  Tom  is  making 
out  comparisons  between  areas  of  countries.  The 
bills  for  the  foreign  guests  are  being  inspected.  Mr 
Trescott  is  examining  with  him  the  statements  for  the 
President's  message,  and  unknown  men  are  waiting 

1  The  Hon.  Lionel  Sackville-West,  who  succeeded  Sir  Edward 
Thornton  as  British  Minister  at  Washington ;  later  Baron  Sackville, 
died  in  1908.  The  late  Baron  Sackville  was  driven  from  his  position 
at  Washington  by  the  newspaper  publication  in  1888  of  a  letter  he 
had  written  to  one  Murchison,  expressing  his  belief  that  England 
preferred  Mr.  Cleveland's  election  to  that  of  Mr.  Harrison,  —  an 
incident  which  not  only  discredited  him,  but  ended  his  diplomatic 
career. 

[  250  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

in  the  parlor,  and  alas !  our  dinner  comes  off  Wednes- 
day. 

xi.  S.  B. 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington,  Nov  16,  1881, 
Wednesday  a.  m. 

Dear  M.,  —  This  is  the  day  of  the  Sackville-West 
and  President  dinner,  and  as  I  have  no  cook  but  Caro- 
line, and  only  one  man,  and  only  Maggie  for  a 
chambermaid,  I  shall  be  heartily  glad  when  it  is 
over.  I  have  gone  over  the  bill  of  fare  till  my  head 
swims,  and  no  doubt  I  am  borrowing  a  great  deal  of 
trouble,  besides  weakening  everybody's  confidence 
in  the  dinner.  Emmons  and  Walker  will  both  be  at 
the  table.  And  now  to  more  pleasing  topics.  Yes- 
terday about  noon,  I  was  telephoned  from  the  Depart- 
ment by  Walker,  this  telegram  from  Philadelphia. 
"  The  Illinois  passed  Holyhead  at  eleven  o'clock  this 
morning,  English  time,"  and  this  morning  here  is  the 
arrival  of  the  Illinois  in  the  regular  shipping  news, 
and  so  Tom  Donaldson's  assurance  "  that  Miss 
M.  is  as  safe  as  though  landed  at  the  pier  in  Liver- 
pool," is  made  good.  So  to-day,  we  all  fancy  you 
takirg  your  first  impression  of  an  English  town, 
which  your  Father  says  is  not  very  different  from 
an  American  town. 

H.  S.  B. 
[251] 


LETTERS    OF 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington  Nov  20th  1881. 
My  dear  M.,  —  Your  Father,  after  spending  his 
entire  morning  on  despatches,  is  off  for  the  Presi- 
dent's,   and   Walker,    who    has    been    with   his    little 
sister  to  St.  John's,  comes  in  and  Lewis  brings  up 
fresh  lunch,  and   all  goes   on  to  the  tune  of  Auld 
Lang  Syne.     I  do  not  know  when  I  wrote  my  last 
letter  to  you,  but  I  believe  I  have  had  two  dinners 
and  one  luncheon  party  since  then.     The  first  was, 
as  you  know,  the  much  dreaded  dinner  to  the  Presi- 
dent, and  I  might  add  to  Mr.  West,  only  that  you 
can  never  have  two  chiefest  lions  at  the  same  dinner, 
and  in  this  case,  the  lion  was  the  American  eagle. 
It  went  off  beautifully.     Five  handsome  and  beauti- 
fully dressed  women  besides  myself,  whose  reputation 
I  leave  to  my  dearest  daughter :  Cameron,  Beale,  Robe- 
son, Schlesinger,  Outrey.     But  while  I  am  admiring 
women,  let  me  not  fail  to  do  honor  to  Mrs.  Solomon 
Hunter,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  a  most  satis- 
factorily cooked  dinner.     No  French  gravy  disgusted 
my  appetite,  all  was  sweet  and  clean,  hot  and  whole- 
some, and  everybody  was  so  gay  that  not  a  moment 
dragged,  till  at  nearly  twelve,  the  party  broke  up. 
Mr.  Sackville-West  was  very  agreeable  and  cordial, 
and  extremely  ready  to  be  entertained.     I  leave  you 
to  judge  of  my  feelings,  when,  while  I  was  still  in 

[  252  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

labor  with  this  dinner,  in  fact  having  my  hair  dressed 
for  it,  your  Father  walked  into  that  temple  of  mer- 
chandise, my  bedroom,  with  the  announcement  that 
having  entirely  forgotten  to  invite  Sir  Leonard  and 
Lady  Tilley  x  to  this  dinner,  I  must  make  up  another 
for  the  next  day,  and  sure  enough,  Thursday,  besides 
the  nobility  mentioned  by  my  proud  pen,  I  found  the 
Prex,  Secretary  and  Mrs.  Hunt,  Gen.  Baird,2  Col. 
Bliss,3  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Davis,  dining  with  the  five 
Blaines.  And  yesterday,  Miss  Carv,  who  had  sung 
in  concert  the  night  before  in  Washington,  came  to 
breakfast,  and  with  her  the  Robesons  and  Lincolns. 
Poor  Lewis  looked  absolutely  white,  he  was  so  tired, 
and  as  for  Caroline,  I  have  been  expecting  every 
meal  to  hear  that  she  was  found  wanting.  Emmons 
got  pway  last  night.  I  hated  to  have  him  go,  for  he 
is  a  dear  son  as  well  as  most  agreeable  gentleman ; 
but  having  secured  a  three  hours'  talk  with  your 
Father  on  business  matters,  he  went  off  very  cheerful. 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington  Nov  30th,  1881 
My  dear  M. ,  —  I  drop  you  a  line  during  the  last 
hour  before  the  closing  of  the  French  mail  at  the 

1  Sir  Samuel  Leonard  Tillev,  from  1873-78  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor  of  New  Brunswick;  died  in  1896. 

2  Gen.  Absalom  Baird  of  Pennsylvania.  In  Sherman's  march  to 
the  sea,  he  commanded  the  14th  Army  Corps.  He  had  been  a  class- 
mate of  Mr.  Blaine  at  Washington  College,  Pennsylvania. 

3  Col.  Alexander  Bliss  of  Washington,  Mr.  Bancroft's  son-in-law. 

[  253  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

State  Department.  In  about  two  weeks  I  shall  have 
to  forego  the  privilege  of  that  despatch  bag,  hunt 
up  thin  paper,  crowd  my  lines  and  reckon  my  words 
before  they  are  written.  I  am  alone,  sweet  and  blessed 
privilege !  Down  stairs  Alice  is  entertaining  Jim- 
mie  Walker,  a  solemn  cousin  of  yours,  who  believes 
in  the  Holy  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  your 
Father,  Mr.  Hitt,  Trescott,  Walker  and  Tom,  at 
the  dining  room  table,  gas  lighted,  are  diligently 
working  on  State  papers,  to  which  I  have  already 
listened  and  have  affixed  the  sign  of  my  approval. 
Walker  1  is  to  go  Friday.  What  do  you  suppose  I 
can  do  without  him?  But  the  embarrrassments  of  the 
change  of  administration  he  will  be  spared;  also 
a   society   winter  in  Washington,   which  I   consider 

1  "When  Mr.  Blaine  entered  the  Department  of  State,  war  was 
waging  between  Chili  and  Peru,  and  he  sought  to  exercise  the  good 
offices  of  our  government,  first,  for  the  restoration  of  peace,  and 
second,  to  mitigate  the  consequences  of  the  crushing  defeat  sustained 
by  Peru.  Other  efforts  failing,  he  despatched  William  Henry  Tres- 
cott on  a  special  mission  to  offer  the  friendly  sendees  of  the  United 
States ;  but  this  attempt  was  interrupted  and  frustrated  by  his  retire- 
ment from  the  department."  —  Appleton's  Encyclopaedia  of  American 
Biography. 

On  November  28,  1881,  President  Arthur  appointed  William 
Henry  Trescott,  of  South  Carolina,  Special  Envoy,  etc.,  etc.,  to  Chili, 
Peru,  and  Bolivia.  Mr.  Trescott  was  accompanied  by  Mr.  Walker 
Blaine,  then  third  assistant  Secretary  of  State,  and  Mr.  Trescott  was 
empowered  by  the  President  to  authorize  Mr.  Blaine  to  represent 
him  at  any  point  where  necessity  might  require.  —  State  Department 
Beport. 

[  254  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

no  loss  for  him.  Also  the  risk  of  the  loss  of  some  of 
his  pleasantest  intimacies.  I  hope  to  get  through 
myself  without  breaks.  Mrs.  Phelps  sails  to-day,  to 
join  Mr.  Phelps  at  Vienna.  I  hoped  he  might  be 
back  by  this  time,  but  this  looks  like  a  winter's  deten- 
tion. Your  Father  gains  constantly.  He  is  now  re- 
gaining his  flesh,  which  does  not  give  him  apparently 
the  satisfaction  it  ought. 

I  was  at  the  Spanish  Minister's  1  night  before  last, 
a  most  pleasant  party,  though  as  he  comes  from  a 
part  of  Spain  where  exaggeration  is  the  positive  de- 
gree, I  suffered  a  little  from  their  politeness,  being 
taken  out  to  supper  first,  placed  behind  a  small  table, 
loaded  with  supper,  wine  and  tea,  no  one  coming  to 
keep  me  company,  till  I  had  had  all  the  honor  of  my 
solitary  state. 

H.  S.  B. 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Friday  evening  Nov  25th,  1881. 
My  dear  M.,  —  I  am  just  in  from  the  Guiteau 
trial,  where  I  have  been  for  the  second  time.  I  can- 
not tell  you  how  interesting  it  is,  though  I  was  very 
much  afraid  to-day,  I  might  be  embarrassed  by  the 
pulling  to  pieces  of  the  Oneida  Community.2     I  went 

1  Felipe  Mendez  de  Vigo  y  Osorio,  Spanish  Minister  to  the  U.  S. 
1870-81,  succeeding  Senor  Polo  y  Bernabe. 

2  One  of  the  witnesses  in  the  Guiteau  trial  had  testified  to  the 
erratic  character  of  Guiteau's  father,  who  was  at  one  time  a  member 

[  255  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

with  Walker  and  Orville  Baker,  but  both  my  escorts 
left  me  at  the  recess,  and  then  I  had  a  chair  by  Mrs. 
Robeson,  who  was  there  with  Mrs.  Emory.1  I  found 
them  on  the  most  intimate  terms  with  Mrs.  Ricker, 
a  lawyeress  from  New  Hampshire,  a  tall  woman  with 
short  hair,  sitting  like  a  man  unhatted,  a  cheap  ruff 
around  her  neck,  good  features,  altogether  a  char- 
acter. Knowing  all  the  resources  of  the  court  room, 
she  took  Mrs.  Emory  to  a  dressing  room,  coming 
back  with  her  hands  full  of  apples,  to  which  she 
treated  her  distinguished  friends.  To-morrow,  Judge 
Davidge  has  warned  his  lady  friends  to  stay  at  home. 
Orville  arrived  yesterday  morning  and  leaves  to- 
morrow. He  dined  with  us  yesterday,  and  Walker 
took  him  to  the  matinee  in  the  afternoon  with  E.  B. 

of  the  so-called  Oneida  Community  which  cherished  unconventional 
views  with  respect  to  marriage.  Guiteau  (Charles  Jules),  had  by 
turns  tried  law,  lecturing,  the  ministry,  and  politics,  and  his  motive 
in  the  assassination  of  President  Garfield  was  supposed  by  many 
persons  at  the  time  to  be  due  to  his  disappointment  at  not  receiving 
some  minor  office  under  the  Administration,  so  that  the  affair  had 
something  to  do,  though  indirectly,  with  the  death  of  the  old  "  spoils 
system."  He  was  found  guilty  in  January,  1882,  but  his  obstreperous 
and  garrulous  behavior  during  the  trial  was  extraordinary,  Judge  Cox 
at  one  time  threatening  to  have  him  gagged.  The  conduct  of  the 
trial  was  outspokenlv  criticised  in  the  daily  papers  at  the  time,  the 
New  York  Tribune  remarking  that  it  would  "put  the  United  States 
to  shame  in  the  eyes  of  the  European  countries  if  they  did  not  know 
that  in  the  prosecution  of  criminals  Washington  ceased  to  be  the 
capital  of  the  nation  and  became  a  Maryland  village." 
1  Wife  of  General  William  Helmsley  Emory,  U.  S.  A. 

[  256  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

and  Lizzie  Cameron.  Lizzie  also  dined  with  us.  Mr 
Cameron  was  sick  and  E.  B.,  who  is  staying  with  Mrs 
Cameron  dined  at  Mrs.  Adams's,  coming  in  here  at 
nine  with  chattering  teeth  and  a  cold  back,  the  house 
being  as  cold  as  that  celebrated  blood.  She  said  she 
sent  for  her  fur  shoes  and  her  cloak,  and  that  when 
she  went  out  to  dinner  she  looked  as  though  going 
for  a  sleigh-ride. 

My  family  is  again  diminishing.  Walker  goes 
next  week,  or  rather  leaves  for  South  America.  Mr. 
Trescott  is  sent  out  by  this  government  as  Envoy 
to  look  into  the  Peru  and  Chilean  matters,  and 
Walker  goes  with  him  as  assistant.  They  will  be  away 
the  entire  winter.  Walker  is  both  pleased  and  sorry. 
It  looks  good  to  him  to  stay  here  through  the  winter 
—  at  the  same  time,  he  will  be  glad  to  add  to  his 
travels  and  experience,  and  perhaps  reputation,  and 
if  the  changes  which  are  coming  involve  personal 
relations,  he  may  be  spared  some  painful  scenes  — 
with  a  chance  that  time,  the  great  mollifier,  may  be- 
fore his  return  smooth  away  all  acerbities.  It  is  a  \ 
little  hard  on  me,  to  lose  my  three  appreciative  chil- 
dren. H.  is  now  through  with  Vanity  Fair.  Now 
she  begins  with  Mademoiselle  Seron  in  Music,  with 
the  dentist,  Henry  Esmond  with  me,  drawing  with 
Adelaide  Outrey's  teacher,  a  doll's  party  at  Ethel 
Robeson's  to-morrow,  and  French  at  Madam  Burr's 
vol.  i-17  [  257  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

school.  With  all  these  divisions  and  subdivisions,  I 
hope  that  time  may  not  hang  too  heavy  on  her  hands. 
The  dinner  at  Mrs.  Hunt's  was  GetchelPs  I  think, 
and  of  course  poor,  —  with  a  company  exceptionally 
interesting.  Arthur  is  so  social  and  fond  of  being 
away  from  his  lonely  habitation  on  Capitol  Hill,1 
and  etiquette  requiring  everyone  to  stay  until  he 
leaves,  it  becomes  an  interesting  problem  how  to  end 
a  dinner  before  twelve  o'clock  —  but  we  did  get  home 
from  the  Hunts  a  little  before  that  hour.  What  do 
you  suppose  the  turkey  Mr.  Anthony 2  sent  me 
weighed?  Thirty-eight  pounds,  and  Caroline  roasted 
it  fit  for  the  gods. 

H.  S.  B. 

821  Fifteenth  St.    Washington  Dec  7th  1881, 

Wednesday  morning. 

My  dear  M.,  —  Alice  is  just  starting  for  the  trial 
with  Mrs.  Kinsley,  and  your  Father  and  Mr.  Chand- 
ler are  talking  some  Mexican  matters,  apparently  of 
interest,  as  the  former  is  fast  working  himself  into 
a  fury.  I  am  trying  to  catch  the  foreign  mail  which 
closes  at  the  Department  to-day  at  twelve.  Congress 
is  in  session,  so  we  are  daily  expecting  your  Father's 

1  President  Arthur  lived  temporarily  in  the  Butler  Mansion,  New 
Jersey  Avenue  and  B  Street,  S.  W.,  while  the  White  House  was  being 
renovated.  Mrs.  Arthur,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Commodore  WTilliam 
Lewis  Herndon,  U.  S.  N.,  died  in  1880. 

2  Senator  Henry  B.  Anthony  of  Rhode  Island. 

[  258  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

head  to  roll  in  the  basket.     I  cannot  but  feel  a  little 

blue,  though  the  person  chiefly  interested  was  never 

gayer  or  in  better  health.     Last  night  he  dined  at 

the  Spanish  Minister's  and  to-morrow  we  go  to  Mr. 

West's.     The  Hales  are  settled  in  the  Morton  house,1 

with   which   they   are   perfectly   delighted.      It   is   a 

charming  house,  full  of  sunshine  and  all  manner  of 

possibilities.     Mr.  Hale's  mother  died  Monday,  and 

he  has  now  gone  to  Turner  to  the  funeral.     Mrs.  H. 

spent  last  evening  with  me,  also  Mr.  Reed,  who  feels 

the  loss  of  the  Speakership ;   not  that  he  had  ever  a 

good  prospect  of  getting  it,  but  it  was  a  beckoning 

ambition,  and  he  seems  to  be  without  a  polestar.    Not 

one  word  do  we  yet  know  about  your  voyage.     I  am 

so  glad  you  like  the  Scotts.     Indeed  I  can  think  of 

little  but  yourself  and  would  like  to  talk  of  nothing 

but  the  rare  wonder  of  your  actually  having  been 

to  London.     I  suppose  to-day  you  commence  your 

school.     We  expect  C.  A.  in  a  fortnight.     I  am  now 

going    to    re-read   your    letters.      Walker's    friends 

come  in  every  day  to  bewail  his  departure.     You  see 

of  course  that  Mr.  Kilpatrick 2  is  dead. 

With  love  from  everybody, 

H.  S.  B. 

1  The  residence  of  Senator  Oliver  P.  Morton  of  Indiana,  later 
occupied  by  Mr.  L.  P.  Morton  of  New  York.  Its  site  is  part  of  the 
present  Shoreham  Hotel. 

3  Brig  .-Gen.  Judson  Kilpatrick,  Minister  to  Chili  from  1865-70, 

[  259  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

821  Fifteenth  St.    Washington  Dec  11th  1881. 

Friday  evening. 

My  dearest  M.,  —  I  have  been  again  to-day 
to  the  Trial  —  the  most  interesting  place,  by  all 
odds,  in  Washington  —  and  after  enduring  the  bad 
air  and  shifting  companionship  of  the  crowded  court- 
room for  three  hours,  and  after  gaping  with  the  rest 
of  the  crowd  at  the  van  till  Guiteau  sprang  into  it 
like  a  rabbit,  I  drove  home  with  Mrs.  Kinsley,  stop- 
ping on  the  way  to  look  at  photographs  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  of  Mrs.  Garfield  and  of  Guiteau,  which  I 
am  intending  to  send  to  Lady  Thornton.  Found  no 
one  at  home,  and  an  untouched  luncheon  table  stand- 
ing. H.  had  gone  to  Mrs  Cameron's,  Alice  to  Mrs 
Baird's,  Jamie  was  on  his  travels,  your  Father  at  the 
Department,  and  this,  alas,  includes  my  family.  I 
am  conscious  of  a  great  want.  It  is  right  and 
natural,  and  for  the  highest  good  of  those  most 
nearly  concerned,  that  my  three  children  should  be 
away,  but  it  is  not  a  costless  sacrifice.     I  pay  dearly 

and  reappointed  in  1881.     He  died  in  Valparaiso,  Dec.  4, 1881.     In 
a  letter  dated  Dec.  13,  1881,  Walker  Blaine  wrote  to  his  father: 

"Poor  Kilpatrick,  how  short  his  enjoyment!  I  recall  his  extrava- 
gant joy  when  he  received  the  place  last  May,  and  now  he's  gone, 
leaving  the  little  wife  and  two  children  in  Chili.  ...  I  am  extremely 
complimented  by  the  high  honor  which  the  President  has  paid  in 
making  me  charge.  Mr.  Trescott  was,  I  think,  extremely  gratified, 
as  it  removes  any  embarrassment  that  might  attend  the  success  of 
the  mission  by  a  new  man  being  sent." 

(  260  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

for  Emmons's  business,  for  Walker's  opportunities, 
and  for  your  French.  Col.  Corkhill  assures  me  that 
Guiteau  will  be  hung.  If  he  is  not,  as  dreadful  a 
villain  as  civilization  has  produced,  will  go  unwhipped 
of  justice. 

All  your  letters  have  now  come  and  I  can  make 
a  complete  Progress  for  you  from  the  moment  you 
arrived  at  the  Mersey  till  the  day  before  you  left 
London.  Every  word  is  interesting  you  write,  but  I 
am  sorry  not  to  know  something  of  your  voyage. 
All  your  letters  have  been  started  this  afternoon  to 
South  America.  Last  night  we  dined  at  the  British 
Legation.  Twenty-five  at  the  table,  representing 
thirteen  nationalities,  ourselves  the  only  Americans. 
It  was  a  pleasant  dinner,  though  not  so  good  a  one 
as  Lady  Thornton's  cook,  whom  Lizzie  Cameron  now 
has,  would  have  given  us,  and  the  house  is  frightfully 
bare,  all  the  cabinets  empty,  no  bric-a-brac,  no  pic- 
tures. I  was  taken  out  to  dinner  by  the  host,  and 
on  the  whole,  had  rather  an  agreeable  evening.  The 
President  has  to-day  telegraphed  Walker  to  be 
charge  d'affaires  at  Chili  till  Kilpatrick's  successor 
is  appointed.  Did  you  ever  know  of  such  luck  as 
he  has?  The  President  went  into  the  White  House 
Wednesday. 

Do  you  notice  that  Arthur  was  unwise  enough  to 
destroy  the  letter  Guiteau  wrote  him  after  the  Presi- 

[  261  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

dent's  death?    I  am  thoroughly  tired,  but  am  always 

yours,  with  the  greatest  love, 

rl.    S.   B. 

821  Fifteenth  St.    Washington  Dec  13th  1881, 

Tuesday  morning. 

Dearest  M.,  —  We  are  at  breakfast.  H  with  her 
Philly,  your  Father  cutting  around  the  outer  crust 
of  all  the  corn  cake,  Alice  latest  of  all,  and  Jamie 
with  inky  fingers,  fresh  from  his  Caesar,  which  he  had 
been  translating  with  a  free  hand  and  out  loud  at  the 
last  minute,  at  your  Father's  desk. 

Well,  my  dearest  daughter,  Frelinghuysen's  1  name 
Was  sent  in  yesterday  and  yesterday  confirmed,  and 
in  a  few  days,  he  will  take  the  oath  of  office,  and  for 
the  first  time  in  twenty-three  years,  he  (your  Father) 
finds  himself  out  of  public  life,  he  entering  the  legis- 
lature in  '58.  Of  course  he  is  extremely  busy,  getting 
ready  to  welcome  his  successor,  so  I  cannot  yet  judge 
how  the  absolute  freedom  will  affect  him,  but  I  have 
few  misgivings.  One  of  our  first  privileges  will  be 
to  give  a  diplomatic  party  to  meet  the  Freling- 
huysens,  and  then  I  rather  hope  we  shall  shut  down 
on  dinners  and  all  that  sort  of  outlay,  for  a  little 
while. 

Your  Father  and  I  dined  at  the  Hales  Sunday  even- 

1  Frederick  T.  Frelinghuysen  of  New  Jersey  was  appointed  Sec- 
retary of  State  by  President  Arthur. 

[  262  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

ing,  the  first  persons  to  eat  at  their  board  since  they 
went  into  the  Morton  house.  We  went  unexpectedly, 
at  the  last  moment  leaving  a  most  interesting  supper, 
which  Lewis  had  just  brought  up.  I  think  the  house 
they  are  in  charming,  and  we  had  a  nice  visit,  your 
Father  being  in  one  of  his  irresistible  moods,  when  no 
man,  I  care  not  who  he  may  be,  can  surpass  him. 
Then,  as  Mr  Chandler  says,  I  would  rather  hear  him 
than  eat. 

To  Walker,  in  South  America 

821  Fifteenth  St.    Washington  Dec  13  1881 

Tuesday  morning. 

Dearest  Walker,  —  The  bell  is  being  pulled 
every  moment,  and  at  each  tinkle,  I  look  up,  hoping 
to  see  a  telegram  which  will  prove  to  be  from  the 
Isthmus,  for  we  began  to  hope  to  hear  from  you 
Sunday,  and  it  seems  a  very  attenuated  pathway  on 
which  the  lambent  flame  now  plays. 

Clarence  Hale  is  here,  trying  to  get  an  answer 
from  your  Father  for  Mr.  Rollins,1  from  whose  house 
he  has  just  arrived,  as  to  whether  he  will  speak  at 
the  New  England  dinner.  And  Mr  Frye  is  here,  and 
Robeson  and  Gibson,2  and  Mr  West  —  these  are  all 

1  Edward  H.  Rollins,  Member  of  Congress  and  later  Senator  from 
New  Hampshire. 

8  Randall  Gibson,  U.  S.  Senator  from  Louisiana. 

[  263  ] 


I 


LETTERS    OF 

in,  but  there  is  a  circle  kept  outside,  larger  and  more 
importunate  than  this  privileged  one.  Mr  Freling- 
huysen's  name  yesterday  sent  in  and  at  once  con- 
firmed, seems  to  time  the  day  and  provisions  of  grace. 
Your  Father  has  promised  me  that  once  out,  he  will 
not  try  to  get  places  for  this  hungry  horde  of  office 
seekers.  I  cannot  help  feeling  a  little  blue  over  the 
loss  of  place.  Do  you  suppose  that  a  Prime  Minister 
ever  went  out  without  a  secret  feeling  that  he  was 
deprived  of  a  right?  But  every  day  I  see  the  wis- 
dom of  your  timely  absence.  For  instance,  Sunday 
afternoon,  when  I  was  at  the  B.'s,  it  taxed  all  my 
equanimity  to  hear  them  calmly  discussing  your 
Father's  removal  without  remembering  to  regret  it, 
even  to  me.  Not  the  shadow  of  a  shade  of  compli- 
mentary allusion  passed  the  lips  of  one.  Everything 
that  was  kind  was  said  of  you,  and  with  an  air  of 
proprietorship,  which  had  they  been  nice  in  other 
directions,  would  have  warmed  my  heart,  but  what 
are  you,  my  dearest  boy,  what  care  I  for  any  other 
name  than  your  Father's  ?  He  himself  says  that  you 
have  more  of  a  reputation  than  he  had  at  your  age, 
but  you  must  remember  that  he  rose  without  advan- 
tage, while  you  are  free  born. 

Gen  B  is,  I  suppose,  going  into  the  Cabinet.  I 
understand  Grant  insists.  The  first  privilege  we 
shall  enjoy,  is  the  giving  a  party  to  the  Freling- 

[  264  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

huysens  to  meet  the  Diplomatic  Corps,  and  I  antici- 
pate the  luxury  of  choice  in  my  guests.  They  have 
just  telephoned  from  the  State  Department  that  a 
cipher  despatch  from  Mr.  Trescott  at  the  Isthmus, 
is  there,  so  farewell  to  anxiety. 

Wednesday 
We  dined  at  the  Allisons'  last  night  —  dull  dinner, 
Mrs.  R.  talking  self  and  nursery  and  Paris  salons 
and  Oscar  Wilde  and  cotillion  (pronounced  French 
fashion)  to  which  her  girls  —  M,  S.  and  Miss  P., 
"  the  latter  with  a  mediaeval  lily  in  her  hand  and  look- 
ing do  you  know,  exactly  like  a  figure  out  of  stained 
glass  "  —  had  gone  unprotected,  until  this  paragon 
of  duennas  should  get  there;  and  R.,  who  is  con- 
sidered a  sort  of  assistant  Speaker,  he  having  un- 
doubtedly presided  at  the  appointment  of  committees, 
talking  old  poetry,  invariably  misquoting;  and  Mr. 
Evarts,  sandwiched  between  Mrs.  Story 1  and  Mr. 
Bancroft ;  —  I  with  Secretary  Howe,2  who  is  old  and 
weak ;  —  and  our  dear  little  hostess  as  flighty  as  a 
bird ;  —  and  the  Outreys. 

I  am  writing  this  sheet  by  fits  and  starts  over 
your  Father's  bed,  where  he  lies  helpless  with  the  gout, 
and  since  the  top  of  the  other  page,  I  have  adminis-    ^ 

1  Wife  of  Captain  John  Story,  U.  S.  A. 

2  Timothy  O.  Howe,  Postmaster-General  under  President  Arthur. 

[   M5   ] 


I 


LETTERS    OF 

tcred  his  breakfast,  his  soda,  his  medicines,  and  an 
amount  of  sympathy  and  attention  such  as  I  could 
not  give  to  any  other  human  being.  Now  Tom  is 
taking  down  in  shorthand  a  letter  of  regret  to  Mr. 
Hutchins,1  that  on  account  of  hoarseness  he  finds 
himself  unable  to  preside  at  the  Webster  Centennial 
meeting,  and  Senator  Plumb  2  has  just  telephoned 
from  the  senate  that  a  party  of  Kansas  gentlemen 
will  call  this  evening  and  pay  their  respects,  and  I 
have  telephoned  back  hoarseness.  So  you  see  we  are 
to-day  as  you  have  a  thousand  times  seen  us.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hunt  were  here  Sunday  and  stayed  to  lunch. 
Not  one  word  has  the  President  said  to  him  about 
staying,  nor  to  Mr.  Kirkwood  3  either.  I  can  see 
that  the  President  is  bored  by  having  these  reminders 
of  Garfield  still  about  him.  Good-bye,  with  oceans 
of  love  from  all  the  Blaines. 

To  M.,  in  Paris 

821  Fifteenth  St.    Wednesday  morning,  Dec  14th,  1881. 
My  dear  M.,  —  Mr.  Frelinghuysen  has  just  called. 
A   note   came   before   your   Father   was   up,    asking 
for   an   interview.      Everything   connected   with    the 

1  Stilson  Hutchins,  journalist,  of  Washington. 

2  Preston  B.  Plumb,  U.  S.  Senator  from  Kansas. 

8  Samuel  Jordan  Kirkwood  of   Iowa,  President  Garfield's  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior. 

[  266  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

State  Department  is  all  right,  most  of  all  the  retir- 
ing Secretary,  who  went  with  me  last  night  to  an 
auction  of  water  colors,  and  amused  himself  by  buy- 
ing many  pictures. 

Your  first  Paris  letters  came  this  morning.  De- 
lighted to  get  them  and  they  now  lie  before  me, 
enveloped  for  Emmons.  I  see  there  were  double 
stamps  on  them,  so  I  suppose  they  did  not  come  by 
the  despatch  bag.  Walker  was  to  leave  the  Isthmus 
yesterday  for  Callao.  Rachel  has  just  been  in,  left 
her  love  for  you.  Your  Tribune  has  been  started 
three  weeks  ago.  Do  not  feel  uneasy  about  anything 
you  may  hear  politically.  The  Chili  and  Peru  busi- 
ness need  not  give  you  the  slightest  concern.  It  is 
a  decided  policy  instead  of  drifting,  as  cowardly 
Americans  only  desire  to  do.  Your  Father  has  as- 
serted the  rights  of  this  country,  as  was  his  bounden 
duty.     Goodbye,  with  love, 

H.  S.  B. 

821  Fifteenth  St.    Friday  evening, 

Washington  Dec  16th,  1881. 

Dear  M.,  —  I  am  in  the  midst  of  the  invita- 
tions to  a  reception  which  your  father  is  to  give 
Monday  evening  to  the  Diplomatic  Corps  to  meet 
Mr.  Frelinghusen,  and  to  keep  the  house  from  being 
overcrowded,  most  of  the  notes  remain  unsent,  though 

[  267  ] 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

Tom  is  perseveringlj  writing  out  the  original  list. 
I  have  written  myself  all  out  to  Walker,  so  you  will 
get  little  more  than  love  and  good  wishes.  Yester- 
day I  went  in  to  see  the  Frelinghuysens.  The  Eugene 
and  Clarence  Hales  dined  here  yesterday,  also  the  Alli- 
sons 1  and  Mr.  Chandler.  Mrs.  Allison  was  never 
prettier  or  better  dressed.  Your  Father  has  just 
looked  up  through  his  glasses,  to  say  that  he  has 
bought  Hitt's  horse  for  $180.  I  hail  this  as  the 
beginning  of  a  stable.  Alice  is  just  starting  for  a 
Presbyterian  fair,  first  going  through  the  inevitable 
preliminary  of  asking  for  money.  H.  is  reading 
and  eating  buttered  toast,  deeply  lamenting  that 
Maggie  Nurse,  by  her  untimely  zeal,  has  deprived 
her  of  the  pleasure  of  dining  at  the  Camerons,  as  she 
had  fully  intended  to  do,  and  Jamie  is  here  with  a 
pair  of  new  shoes,  larger  than  ever,  and  not  as  sweet 
as  the  rose,  which  he  wants  my  authorization  for  pur- 
chasing. Mr.  Bigelow  and  Joseph  Manley  have 
been  in  from  the  Guiteau  trial,  which  they  found 
extremely  interesting.  I  had  a  lovely  letter  from 
Mrs.  Garfield  this  morning,  very  simple,  very  effec- 
tive and  affecting.  I  shall  send  it  to  Lady  Thornton, 
as  there  is  in  it  a  very  kind  message  to  her. 

Brewster 2    is    made    Attorney   General.      All   the 

1  William  B.  Allison,  U.  S.  Senator  from  Iowa. 

2  Benjamin  H.  Brewster  of  Pennsylvania. 

[  268  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Stalwarts  are  going  in,  and  though  the  mills  of 
Arthur  may  seem  to  grind  slow,  they  grind  exceeding 
fine.  But  whatever  you  may  read  or  hear,  always 
remember  that  your  Father  is  a  very  careful  as  well 
as  able  man,  and  that  because  the  press  criticises,  you 
need  feel  no  apprehensions  —  there  often  is  advan- 
tage in  the  very  criticism.  Abby  is  coming  Monday 
—  quite  suddenly  it  seems,  though  we  have  waited  so 

long.     Good-night,  with  love, 

H.  S.  B. 

1  "He  (Arthur)  had  been  one  of  the  chief  representatives  of  a 
faction  in  the  Republican  Party,  and  he  never  seemed  able  to  shake 
off  the  influences  which  had  surrounded  him  before  his  election.  .  .  . 
He  made  a  fatal  mistake,  as  it  always  seemed  to  me,  in  permitting 
the  resignation  of  President  Garfield's  Cabinet  and  filling  their 
places  with  men  who,  like  himself,  belonged  to  the  Grant  faction. 
If  he  had  said  he  would  not  allow  the  hand  of  an  assassin  to  make 
a  change  in  the  forces  that  were  to  control  the  Administration  so  far 
as  could  be  helped,  and  that  he  would  carry  into  effect  the  purposes 
of  his  predecessor  wherever  he  could  in  conscience  do  so,  he  would 
have  maintained  himself  in  the  public  esteem.  But  that  was  not  his 
only  mistake."  —  Senator  George  F.  Hoar  :  Autobiography  of  Seventy 
Years. 


[  269  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

To  Walker,  in  South  America 

821  Fifteenth  St.,  Washington,  December  16th,  1881 

Friday  morning. 

My  dear  Walker,  —  I  went  yesterday  to 
Wormley's  and  called  on  the  Frelinghuysens.  Ban- 
croft Davis  1  will  of  course  be  Assistant  Secre- 
tary, and  the  maiden  Frelinghuysens  and  Sallie 
Davis  will  look  out  for  the  social  department, 
and  will  do  it  well.  The  outgoing  secretary  is  still 
in  gay  spirits,  and  I  think,  the  best  of  health. 

In  the  meanwhile  everything  is  going  Stal- 
wart way.2  Mr  Frelinghuysen  has  expressed  to 
your  Father  his  hope  that  you  will  remain  in 
the  Department.  He  desires  it  on  your  Father's 
account,  and  for  his  own,  everything  he  hears  of 
you  making  him  anxious  to  have  you  near  him. 

Mr.  Christiancy  3  having  been  interviewed  by  the 

1  J.  C.  Bancroft  Davis,  Assistant  Secretary  of  State  under  Mr. 
Frelinghuysen. 

2  "Stalwarts"  was  the  nickname  given  about  this  time  to  per- 
sistent advocates  of  a  third  term  for  Grant,  306  of  them  standing 
out  for  him  in  the  Republican  National  Convention  of  1880.  To 
appease  them  Arthur  was  given  the  vice-presidential  nomination,  and 
on  President  Garfield's  death  and  Arthur's  accession  to  the  Presi- 
dency their  influence  became  predominant.  E.  Benjamin  Andrews 
in  his  "History  of  the  Last  Quarter  Century  in  the  United  States," 
states  that  this  word  "stalwart"  was  coined  by  Mr.  Blaine,  who, 
however,  makes  no  use  of  it  in  the  account  he  gives  in  his  book 
"Twenty  Years  in  Congress,"  of  the  Chicago  Convention  of  1880. 

3  Isaac  Peckham  Christiancy,  Free-Soil  candidate  for  governor  of 

[  270  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Herald,  and  stating  that  the  first  sentence  or  para- 
graph of  your  Father's  South  American  despatch 
to  him,  as  now  published,  had  not  been  on  the 
original  paper,  your  Father  wrote  him,  when  he 
came  down  handsomely.  His  note  will  be  given  to 
the  Press  to-day.  Joseph  Manley  and  Mr.  Bigelow 
are  here,  and  have  just  interrupted  my  letter  with 
a  most  friendly  call.  They  deeply  and  devotedly  feel 
your  Father's  retiracy,  and  are  longing  to  see  him 
in  the  Senate.  M.  and  B.  have  just  come  from  the 
trial,  in  which  they  had  been  most  deeply  inter- 
ested. With  oceans  of  love  —  and  you  know  what 
an  ocean  is. 

Washington,  Monday,  Dec.  19,  1881,  10  a.  m. 
My  dear  Walker,  —  I  am  in  the  midst  of  punch 
making,  and  Lewis  has  judiciously  allowed  a  stick 
of  wood  to  fall  on  his  side,  and  your  Father  sur- 
renders the  portfolio  to-day  to  Mr.  Frelinghuysen, 
and  has  now  gone  to  the  Department  with  Secretary 
Hunt,  and  C.  A.  comes  this  afternoon,  and  to-night 
we  give  a  reception  to  the  Corps  Diplomatique,  and 
Congress  has  unanimously  asked  your  Father  to 
deliver   the  oration  at  the   Congressional  Memorial 

Michigan  in  1852,  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Republican  party. 
Mr.  Christiancy  was  elected  U.  S.  Senator  in  1875,  and  resigning  in 
February,  1879,  was  sent  as  Minister  to  Peru,  from  1879-81. 

[  271  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

services  on  the  death  of  Garfield,  and  I  am  against 
his  accepting  it,  as  he  is  himself,  but  almost  every 
friend  he  has  insists  that  he  shall  do  it,1  and  how 
it  will  end,  I  know  not.  One  insuperable  objection, 
it  seems  to  me,  is  the  emotion  your  Father  will 
feel,  embarrassing  him  to  an  uncontrollable  extent, 
I  am  sure.  And  the  man  is  here  about  the  flowers, 
and  altogether  it  is  a  representative  day  in  the 
Blaine  family,  as  it  has  hitherto  flourished,  though 
very  likely  this  is  the  last  of  them.  Well,  to  a 
good  deal  of  this  make-up,  I  can  cheerfully  say 
good-bye ;  welcome  to  go,  is  the  punch  and  all  that 
part  of  it,  and  if  your  Father  does  not  miss  the 
carking  cares,  as  the  starved  Irishman  misses  the 
heart  of  the  potato,  I  am  ready  to  lighten  the  ship 
by  throwing  overboard  all  this  old  load.  He  says 
he  does  not  and  shall  not,  that  he  is  not  thinking 
of  it  at  all,  but  that  all  his  trouble  comes  from  his 
business.  I  am  glad  the  Dodger  comes  this  after- 
noon. Happily  yesterday  he  had  an  engagement  to 
dine  at  the  Hales  —  a  Senatorial  dinner ;  afterwards 
he  went  to  Mrs.  Robeson's,  coming  home  late  and 
sleeping  well.  I  suppose  long  before  you  are  read- 
ing this  all  these  troubles  will  be  over,  so  you  are  not 

1  Representative,  afterwards  President,  McKinley,  of  President 
Garfield's  State  of  Ohio,  was  especially  urgent,  and  it  was  his  voice 
chiefly  which  persuaded  Mr.  Blaine  to  agree  to  the  delivering  of  the 
eulogy  on  President  Garfield. 

[  272  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

to  add  to  your  homesickness,  provided  you  are  so 
afflicted,  the  positive  element  of  anxiety  about  us. 

We  hope  to  go  to  New  York  in  a  few  days,  when 
I  shall  get  myself  as  good  an  outfit  as  though  we 
still  had  the  State  Department.  Politically,  every- 
thing goes  one  way.  The  wind  is  Stalwartward,  and 
their  laps  are  filled,  and  the  hungry  are  not  sent 

hungry  away. 

H.  S.  B. 

To  M.,  in  Paris 

Washington  Dec  22nd,  1881, 
My  dear  M.,  —  I  am  afraid  I  have  neglected  you 
lately,  owing  to  other  letters  which  I  have  been 
writing,  but  my  heart  is  always  yours.  The  second 
day  of  rain  is  drawing  to  a  close,  very  bad  for  Christ- 
mas week.  Two  presents  only  have  I  bought,  a  pin 
for  Alice  and  another  for  Carl  Sherman.  There 
seems  nothing  in  Washington  to  buy.  The  Freling- 
huysen  reception  was  a  very  brilliant  affair.  I  wore 
my  old  white  and  stood  in  my  old  satin  slippers  till 
I  nearly  fainted.  As  is  usual  with  our  parties,  a 
number  stayed  until  very  late.  Your  Father  appeared 
at  his  very  best,  but  after  all  it  was  the  dying  song 
of  the  swan,  and  the  next  morning  there  was  no  John, 
and  the  next  afternoon  no  New  York  papers.  How- 
ever, for  the  former  I  do  not  care,  as  I  always  hated 
vol.  1—I8  [  273  ] 


I 


LETTERS    OF 

to  use  an  official  carriage.  C.  A.  and  I  have  now 
taken  to  the  horse  cars,  but  I  think  your  Father  is 
seriously  contemplating  the  carriage  question.  It 
does  seem  absurd,  to  have  four  horses  and  a  pony 
in  Augusta,  and  hire  a  carriage  here.     While  I  write, 

F S is  playing  all  sorts  of  old  fashioned 

tunes  to  your  Father,  who  I  fear,  is  in  too  tender  a 
mood.  To-morrow  he  goes  to  New  York,  which  will 
be  a  good  change  for  him,  and  Tuesday  I  expect  to 
join  him,  C.  A.  going  with  me.  From  Walker  we 
do  not  yet  hear,  though  I  long  inexpressibly  for  him. 
I  suppose  you  will  want  to  know  what  the  ex-Secretary 
is  going  to  do.  Well,  first  and  foremost,  he  will  try 
to  retrieve  his  fortunes,  and  then  he  is  to  deliver 
the  eulogy  on  Garfield  before  Congress,  and  thirdly 
he  will  look  up  his  railroads,  etc. 

H.  S.  B.     . 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington  Dec  24th,  1881. 
Deakly  beloved  M.j  —  School  is  out,  but  the 
boy  is  not  at  play.  On  the  contrary,  his  leisure  is 
as  oppressive  to  him  as  Hollo's  on  his  holiday,  and 
were  it  not  for  the  Garfield  eulogy,  which  makes  a 
goal  for  his  reveries,  I  should  think  him  a  little  blue. 
Not  so  much  because  he  has  lost  the  Secretaryship 
of  State  alone.  It  is  not  so  much  the  money  I  care 
for,  as  the  time  in  which  it  has  taken  to  itself  wings. 

[  274  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

The  tonic  of  money  making  is  so  much  more  stimu- 
lating than  any  other  at  certain  times.  Breakfast 
is  just  over,  and  your  family  are  sitting  about  as 
usual.  Tom  not  yet  here,  because,  poor  fellow!  he 
fondly  hoped  he  was  to  have  an  idle  day,  as  your 
Father  had  expected  to  spend  to-morrow  with  Mrs 
Lawrence  at  Doylestown,  but  H  made  such  a  fuss 
about  his  leaving  our  already  diminished  family  for 
Christmas,  that  he  gave  it  up,  so  now  we  have  all  to 
make  an  effort  to  keep  him  in  a  good  humor.  Alice  is 
dressing  one  of  her  dolls  for  a  Sunday  School  scholar, 
I  think,  and  C.  A.  with  one  hand  shading  her  eyes,  is 
going  through  the  morning  papers.  The  Freling- 
huysens  have  left  town,  also  the  President.  Mrs  F 
has  asked  me  to  receive  with  her  on  New  Year's  Day, 
and  if  I  am  in  the  city,  I  shall,  bait  Tuesday  we 
go  over  to  New  York.  Yesterday  Sackville-West 
brought  his  daughter  to  call.  She  reached  Wash- 
ington the  night  before,  and  he  wished  her  to  make 
her  first  call  at  this  house.  She  is  extremely  pleas- 
ing and  quite  pretty.  Not  one  word  yet  from  Walker, 
though  we  shall  now  begin  to  look  for  letters.  Can 
you  imagine  how  I  miss  him? 

Christmas  Day. 
Father  has  only  now  had  his  slice  of  toast  and  cup 
of  tea.    Meanwhile  since  the  family  breakfasted,  I  have 
had  a  long  talk  with  him,  finding  him  very  cheery  and 

[275] 


LETTERS    OF 

cheerful,  even  over  his  moneys  which  are  not  what 
could  be  wished.  He  says  there  is  only  one  position 
which  he  craves  in  the  future,  the  Presidency  may  go, 
but  he  would  like  to  carry  out  his  views  of  statecraft 
in  1885  as  Secretary  of  State.  Do  you  know,  I  think 
this  election  of  a  President  every  four  years  makes 
life  very  short.  Hayes  is  elected,  and  the  disap- 
pointed immediately  mortgage  the  future.  And  Gar- 
field dies,  and  his  friends,  pushed  to  the  wall,  at 
once  forecast  conclusions  for  the  next  administration. 
I  interrupted  myself  in  my  letter  yesterday  to  take 
H  to  Mme  Outrey's,  whither  she  was  to  go  to  prac- 
tice a  carol  which  her  children  and  Ethel  Robeson 
and  Max  Heard  are  to  sing  to-morrow  at  eleven.  I 
came  home  just  too  late  for  Mrs.  Swayne's  *  funeral, 
which  C.  A.  and  I  had  it  in  our  hearts  to  be  at,  and 
then  came  a  long  stretch  of  visitors,  all  agreeable, 
some  foreign  and  most  of  them  regretful  of  our 
changed  fortunes.  Not  all,  perhaps,  as  Bancroft 
and  Mrs.  Davis  were  among  them,  and  I  suppose  he 
is  de-facto  Secretary  of  State.  After  these  visits 
were  over,  C.  A.  and  I  returned  the  West  visit,  and 
paid  one  to  the  Spanish  Minister's  wife,  then  home  to 
dinner;  after  which,  your  Father,  C.  A.,  H.  and 
Jamie  went  to  hear  Lotta  in  "  Bob,"  a  Christmas 
treat  from  the  Pater. 

1  Wife  of  ex-Justice  Swayne  of  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court. 

[  276  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

I  am  delighted  that  you  have  seen  Mr.  Phelps.     I 

should  have  written  him  long  ago,  had  I  not  supposed 

he  was  coming  home.     I  do  not  see  how  I  can  write 

you  anything  about  politics,  inside  or  outside  views. 

In  Europe,  of  course,  your  Father's  policy,  which  is 

decidedly  American,  you  will  see  very  much  criticised, 

and  you  must  remember  that  this  is  really  greatly  to 

his  credit.    A  policy  which  European  countries  would 

applaud,  could  not  be  very  American. 

H.  S.  B. 

Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  New  York  Dec  29th,  1881. 

Thursday  morning. 

My  dearest  daughter,  —  Your  Father  and  I 
came  over  to  this  city  Tuesday  afternoon,  arriving  in 
a  storm,  and  stormy  it  has  been  ever  since.  I  am 
about  my  dressmaking,  and  my  dearer  self  —  and 
certainly  he  might  apply  the  title  with  another  sig- 
nificance to  me  —  is  looking  up  his  sadly  neglected 
stocks.  The  only  question  now  is,  are  they  worth 
taking  any  notice  of?  All  that  fine  Fortunatus* 
purse  which  we  once  held  the  strings  of,  and  in  which 
we  had  only  to  insert  the  finger  to  pay  therewith  for 
the  house,  has  melted  from  the  grasp  which  too  care- 
lessly held  it,  and  we  must  look  about  for  new  invest- 
ments, the  comfort  of  which  I  find  is  the  inference 
that  there  is  still  enough  left  to  spare  for  investments. 

Your   Father  says  he  is  not  even  thinking  of  public 

[  277  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

affairs,  while  every  issue  of  the  press  contains  at 
least  one  resume  of  his  intentions  and  ambitions,  the 
upshot  of  all  being  the  presidency  in  '84.  I  am  fast 
becoming  content  with  the  situation.  As  soon  as 
people  cease  asking  me  if  I  am  going  to  leave  Wash- 
ington, I  shall  be  entirely  so. 


[  278  ] 


1882 


To  M.,  in  Paris 

Friday  morning  [January]. 

Here  is  a  letter  from  your  Father  just  received, 
though  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  yet  told  you  that 
he  went  over  to  New  York  again  Wednesday.  While 
I  was  there,  we  were  invited  to  Mr.  Reid's  to  dinner, 
to  meet  Mr.  James,  the  novelist. 

I  suppose  you  will  see  in  the  newspapers  that  Gen 
Grant  is  out  for  the  restoration  of  Fitz-John  Porter,1 
the  simple  meaning  of  which  is,  that  he  desires  himself 
to  be  placed  on  the  retired  list  of  the  U.  S.  A.,  with 
the  pay  of  General,  and  the  Democrats  will  not  vote 
for  it,  unless  Porter  goes  through  at  the  same  time. 
This  I  suppose  is  the  true  inwardness  of  the  whole 
thing.  What  do  you  suppose  Mrs.  Logan  will  do 
with  all  that  testimony  she  got  together  for  her 
husband's  three  days'  speech  two  years  ago?     The 

1  "General  Fitz-John  Porter,  one  of  McClellan's  most  efficient 
commanders  during  the  Peninsular  Campaign.  .  .  .  Temporarily  at- 
tached to  the  Army  of  Virginia  (Pope's)  and  formal  charges  having 
been  made  against  him,  he  was  deprived  of  his  command.  .  .  .  He  was 
ordered  to  Washington  for  trial  by  court-martial,  on  charges  preferred 
by  General  Pope,  and  in  1863  he  was  cashiered  for  violation  of  the 
9th  and  52d  Articles  of  War.  In  1870  he  appealed  to  the  President 
for  a  reversal  of  the  sentence,  and  in  1878,  a  commission  of  inquiry 
was  instituted  to  determine  whether  there  was  new  evidence  in  his 
favor.  ...  He  was  finally,  in  1886,  restored  to  his  rank  of  colonel  and 
retired."  —  Harper's  Encyclopedia  of  United  States  History. 

[  281   ] 


LETTERS    OF 

allusion  in  your  Father's  note  relates  to  a  criticism 
of  Mr.  Evarts  on  the  Clayton-Bulwer  '  paper  of  your 
Father's.  I  was  at  the  White  house  on  Monday,  also 
at  the  Frelinghuysens'.  Jamie  went  around  and  paid 
visits  with  your  Father  and  was  quite  in  love  with  the 
ceremonies  of  the  day.  We  were  all  at  the  Freling- 
huysen  breakfast.  Alice,  as  usual,  was  at  Gen. 
Sherman's,  and  wore  her  new  prune  colored  velvet, 
looking  very  handsome.  Good-bye,  with  quantities 
of  love  from  everybody. 

H.  S.  B. 

To  Walker 

We  have  cards  to-day  to  the  Susy  Washburne 
wedding.  Mr.  Bishop  is  to  be  in  the  city  to-morrow, 
as  we  know  by  a  telegram  to  your  father. 

Mrs.  Wadsworth  made  me  a  long  call  the  other 

1  "The  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty  was  negotiated  in  18.50  between 
this  country  and  Great  Britain,  and  guarranteed  the  neutrality  and 
encouragement  of  lines  of  interoceanic  travel  across  the  American 
isthmus.  In  1881  the  Columbian  Republic  had  proposed  to  the  Euro- 
pean powers  that  they  should  unite  in  guaranteeing  the  neutrality  of 
the  Panama  Canal.  On  June  24,  Mr.  Blaine  issued  a  circular  letter 
declaring  the  objection  of  this  government  to  any  such  concerted 
action,  and  asserting  the  prior  and  paramount  rights  and  obligations 
of  this  country.  .  .  .  Throughout  the  correspondence,  Mr.  Blaine 
insisted  in  the  firmest  tone  that  it  was  the  fixed  purpose  of  the  United 
States  to  consider  the  Isthmus  Canal  question  as  an  American  ques- 
tion to  be  dealt  with  and  decided  by  the  American  governments."  — 
Appleton's  Encyclopedia  of  American  Biography. 

[  282  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

day,  full  of  inquiries  for  you.  Said  she  never  was  at 
a  better  fete  or  had  a  more  delicious  lunch,  than  that 
on  the  Despatch,1  all  of  which  she  understood  was 
managed  by  you.  Reminded  me  that  she  there  first 
met  Arthur.  We  dined  at  Judge  Cox's  2  Saturday. 
Arthur  has  at  last  asked  Lincoln  to  remain.  Do 
not  feel  uneasy  about  us.  Your  Father  said  yes- 
terday, the  Presidency  came  no  more  into  his  cal- 
culations, but  that  his  family  had  never  seemed  so 
dear  to  him,  nor  had  he  ever  felt  himself  so  devoted 
to  them.  With  which  lovely  sentiment  I  take  my 
leave. 

With  love, 

H.  S.  B. 

To  M.,  in  Paris 

821  Fifteenth  St.    Wednesday  evening, 
January  11th,  1882. 

My  dear  M.,  —  I  am  writing  at  your  Father's 
sacred  table  —  the  table  consecrated  to  his  Eulogy 
on  Garfield  —  and  where  do  you  think  this  table  is 
situated?  In  medias  res,  you  will  at  once  decide,  for 
you  who  know  him  so  well,  will  remember  that  his 
muse,  historical  or  political,  dwells  always  in  the 
bosom  of  his  family.     So  when  he  saw  my  large  old- 

1  The  U.  S.  S.  Despatch,  presidential  yacht,  afterwards  lost  off 
the  coast  of  New  Jersey. 

2  Walter  Smith  Cox  of  Washington,  appointed  by  President  Hayes, 
in  1879,  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of 
Columbia.    He  presided  at  the  Guitcau  trial  in  1881-82. 

[  283  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

fashioned  table,  which  I  had  had  brought  down  from 
the  billiard  room  and  covered  wTith  one  of  those  old 
green  table  cloths  which  I  have  had  time  out  of  mind, 
that  I  might  have  writing  room  for  my  correspond- 
ence with  my  absent  children,  he  at  once  asked  if  it 
might  be  kept  for  him ;  so  almost  all  day  he  has  been 
here,  writing  the  parallels  between  Thaddeus  Stevens 1 
and  Garfield,  Garfield  and  Gladstone,  and  Garfield  and 
Garfield. 

Alice  is  going  to  hear  Rossi  2  in  Lear  to-night,  and 
one  of  the  Jamies  or  one  of  the  H's  must  accom- 
pany her,  and  if  it  be  I,  I  must  put  on  a  short 
dress,  and  I  have  still  to  eat  an  unpretending  dinner 
of  stewed  chicken,  for  which  I  have  little  inclination, 
as  it  was  there  when  I  had  luncheon,  your  Father  and 
I  having  made  a  pilgrimage  at  high  noon  to  the  new 
house.  I  went  into  your  room  and  echoed  Duchess 
May's  prayer  as  she  crossed  the  threshold  of  Linter- 
gen.  We  also  walked  the  plank  into  the  Windom 
house.  Alice  has  been  out  and  made  Cabinet  calls  for 
me,  for  you  know  I  am  reduced  now  to  Mrs.  A's 

1  "Thaddeus  Stevens  was  the  unquestioned  leader  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  from  July  4,  1861,  when  it  assembled  at  the  call 
of  Lincoln,  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1868.  The  legislative 
work  of  that  period  stands  unapproached  in  difficulty  and  importance 
in  the  history  of  Congress,  if  not  indeed  of  any  parliamentary  body 
in  the  world." — S.  W.  McCall:  Thaddeus  Stevens,  in  American 
Statesmen  Series. 

2  Ernesto  Rossi,  the  Italian  actor,  author,  and  dramatist. 

[  284  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

foundation,  and  must  call  on  everybody,  even  on  the 
A's,  so  to  the  lowest  deep  I  find  a  deeper  still.  As 
my  new  cloak  had  not  come  from  Egan,  your  Father 
—  who  would  accuse  him  of  such  weakness  ?  —  ad- 
vised me  to  call  by  proxy,  hence  Alice's  mission.  My 
dresses  came  yesterday.  Only  think  of  the  relief! 
They  fit,  they  are  not  loud,  they  are  handsome,  and 
as  far  as  can  pertain  to  my  years,  they  are  becoming. 
We  are  now  in  the  midst  of  all  the  gayety  there  is, 
and  perhaps  I  have  never  seen  as  quiet  a  winter  in 
Washington. 

Thursday  noon. 
I  am  about  starting  for  Mrs.  S.'s,  where  to  my 
sorrow,  I  am  going  to  luncheon,  with  Alice  and  Miss 
Dodge.  I  have  the  excitement  of  my  new  dress  and 
the  prospect  of  three  good  hours  indoors,  when  I 
want  to  be  visiting.  Then  all  the  morning,  there  has 
been  a  steady  run  of  callers,  so  that  I  have  been  in 
the  parlor  all  the  time.  Your  Father  has  been  in 
possession  all  the  morning  of  my  room,  and  a  more 
unhandy  thing  than  this  fancy,  it  would  be  hard  to 
conceive.  But  perhaps  this  is  the  last  sacrifice  I  shall 
be  called  on  to  make  for  Garfield. 

Saturday  afternoon,  Jany  14th. 
I  hope,  M.,  you  will  see  the  Tribune,  to  read  the 
telegram  from  Whitelaw  Reid,  sent  to  President  Gar- 

[  285  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

field  about  the  Robertson  appointment,1  and  stolen 
and  given  to  the  Herald ;  then  John  Hay's  letter 
from  Cleveland  to  Reid,2  and  Garfield's  letter  to 
Nichols,3  and  the  editorials  coresponding,  which  all 

1  A  telegram  from  Mr.  Reid,  dated  March  27,  1881,  advising 
President  Garfield  to  stand  by  his  appointment  of  Judge  Robertson 
as  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New  York.  President  Garfield's  New 
York  appointments  were  in  general  opposed  by  the  Senators  from 
that  State,  Conkling  and  Piatt,  and  the  publication  of  the  despatch 
alluded  to  in  the  "  Letters"  was  called  at  the  time  a  "stalwart"  at- 
tempt to  attack  the  dead  President  as  having  been  too  much  under 
the  influence  of  Secretary  Blaine. 

2  Referring  to  the  letter  from  John  Hay  to  Mr.  Reid  given  below, 
published  in  the  New  York  Tribune  of  January  11,  1882.  The 
Washington  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Herald  had  published 
Mr.  Reid's  despatch  with  the  assertion  that  it  had  been  personally 
shown  to  him  by  President  Garfield,  who  had  allowed  him  to  take  a 
copy  of  it. 

"No.  506,  Euclid  Avenue, 
Cleveland,  Jan.  7,  1882. 
I  write  in  haste  to  let  you  know  that  your  dispatch  to  me  must 
have  been  stolen  from  the  wires.  I  have  it  here  under  lock  and 
key.  Nobody  but  myself  has  ever  seen  it  —  not  even  Garfield.  I 
took  it  over  to  him  and  read  it  to  him.  He  never  saw  it,  except  in 
my  hands  —  never  touched  it  with  his.  It  has  been  under  lock 
and  key  ever  since.  You  may  proceed  on  this  with  absolute  confi- 
dence. It  was  either  stolen  from  your  own  copy  in  New  York,  or 
stolen  from  the  wires.  ...  I  read  it  to  Garfield  and  you  remember 
what  he  at  once  said  about  withdrawing  Robertson's  nomination  — 
'They  may  take  him  out  of  the  Senate  head-first  or  feet  first  ;  I 
will  never  withdraw  him.'     I  have  only  a  minute  to  catch  the  maiL 

Yours  faithfully, 

John  Hay." 

3  Mr.  Thomas  M.  Nichols  had  been  one  of  the  private  secretaries 
as  well  as  an  intimate  friend  of  President  Garfield.  He  published  a 
letter  from  the  dead  President,  dated  May  £9,  1881,  in  which,  re- 
ferring to  the  Robertson  appointment  he  wrote:    "The  attempt  to 

[  286  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

make  very  interesting  reading.  I  enclose  one  of 
Grundy's  stupid  matter-of-fact  society  notes,  think- 
ing you  may  see  some  names  you  are  interested  in. 
Yesterday  C.  A.  and  I  spent  the  day  at  court,  the 
Guiteau  trial,  I  mean.     Very  interesting. 

xx.  S.  B. 

821  Fifteenth  St.    Washington  Jany  17th  1882, 

Tuesday  morning. 

Deaeest  M.,  —  I  am  sure  I  do  not  know  what  to 
write  you,  for  I  have  pre-empted  my  day  for  let- 
ters to  Walker  and  Mr  Phelps,  to  whom  I  am  cer- 
tainly going  to  write  at  length.  Here  we  sit  just 
through  with  breakfast,  your  Father  having  spent 
the  hour  of  the  family  meal,  in  the  parlor,  talking  to 
an  untimely  visitor,  and  now  H  and  C.  A.  are  sit- 
ting in  one  window,  she  reading  and  she  reading  — 
the  one  her  book,  the  other  the  morning  paper  — 
and  Tom  is  answering  invitations,  to  the  Freling- 
huysens,  accepting  dinner  invitation  to  the  united 
Blaine  headship,  and  to  Gen.  Schenck,  accepting 
breakfast  invitation  to  your  Father  to  meet  the 
President  next  Saturday.  And  to-day  I  dine  at 
the    Allisons,    and    Alice   lunches    at   Mrs.    Wood's. 

shift  the  fight  to  Blaine's  shoulders  is  as  weak  as  it  is  unjust.  The 
fact  is,  no  member  of  the  Cabinet  behaves  with  more  careful  respect 
for  the  rights  of  his  brother  men  than  Blaine.  It  should  be  under- 
stood that  the  Administration  is  not  meddling  in  New  York  politics. 
It  only  defends  itself  when  assailed." 

[  287  ] 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

Thursday  we  gave  a  dinner  to  the  President,  Wests, 
etc.  Your  Father  is  writing  the  Eulogy,  which  now 
interests  him,  now  tries  him.  The  trouble  is  in  eulog- 
izing and  not  going  beyond  the  truth,  for  no  man 
knew  Garfield  better  than  your  Father,  all  his  weak- 
ness and  the  greatness  of  his  power. 

We  see  by  newspaper  telegraph  from  Panama, 
that  Walker  and  Mr  Trescott  left  Callao  Christmas 
Day.  Do  you  realize  how  little  we  know  about  him? 
You  seem  almost  face  to  face  with  me.  I  wore  my  new 
velvet  coat  for  the  first  time  yesterday.  Apparently 
Atlas  did  not  find  the  world  so  heavy  on  his  shoulders. 
This  is  a  complete  kill-joy.  It  cramps  my  arms  and 
embarrasses  my  elbows.    Your  loving, 

H.  S.  B. 

To  Walker,  in  South  America 

821  Fifteenth  St.    Washington,  Jany  17th  1882. 

Tuesday. 

Dear  Walker,  —  The  day  has  been  made  delight- 
ful by  the  arrival  of  letters  from  your  own  dear  self, 
Hat's  containing  the  Neptune  Rex  (You  know  Rex 
is  one  of  the  Latin  words  she  is  always  declining, 
Continental  fashion)  address,  your  Father's  and  my 
own.  Mr.  Elkins  was  sitting  with  us  when  they  came, 
and  enjoyed  listening  to  them,  apparently  as  much 
as  any  of  us.     You  ought  to  have  heard  H.     "  Oh, 

[  288  ] 


? 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

what  a  brother  Jacky  is !  "  Your  letter  reveals  such 
a  depth  of  ignorance  of  the  family  affairs,  I  hardly 
know  where  or  how  to  begin  your  enlightenment,  and 
by  this  time,  of  course,  you  must  know  much  which, 
when  you  wrote,  had  not  been  revealed  to  you.  We 
have  been  now  in  private  life  for  some  time,  but  it 
makes  but  little  difference  to  us,  save  in  the  matter 
of  etiquette.  It  is  Tuesday,  and  we  dine  to-night  at 
the  Allisons',  Thursday  we  give  a  dinner  to  the 
President,  Friday  we  dine  at  the  Hales ;  then  next 
week  Thursday  we  dine  at  the  Frelinghuysens'. 
They  seem  to  take  Thursday  for  their  dinner  day, 
and  this  week  we  stumbled  in  our  invitations  upon 
many  of  their  guests,  Mrs.  Wadsworth,1  for  instance, 
the  F's  themselves,  and  the  President.  There  was  a 
little  misunderstanding  about  the  President,  and 
John  Davis  2  came  around  yesterday  to  make  it 
straight.  He  had  engaged  on  the  same  day  to  dine 
at  two  places,  the  Secretary  of  State's  and  here,  but 
as  our  invitations  were  given  out  "  to  meet  the  Pres- 
ident," of  course  he  had  to  come  here.  Hunt  and 
Delano  3  and  Lincoln  are  still  in  his  cabinet,  but  I 

1  Wife  of  James  Wadsworth,  Member  of  Congress  from  New 
York. 

a  Private  Secretary  to  President  Arthur  and  afterwards  Judge  of 
the  Court  of  Claims ;  married  Miss  Sally  Frelinghuysen,  daughter  of 
the  Secretary  of  State. 

a  Columbus    Delano  of  Ohio,  Secretary7  of  the  Interior. 

vol.  i—19  [  2S0  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

think  he  would  be  better  pleased  to  have  them  where 
your  Father  is.  It  is  plainly  evident  that  Arthur 
is  not  his  own  master.  I  suppose  you  have  seen  that 
Grant  has  been  interviewed  on  the  Fitz  John  Porter 
matter?  And  that  he  has,  over  his  own  signature, 
stated  that  he  believes  nineteen  years  of  injustice 
have  been  done  to  Gen.  Porter.  He  is  of  course  ac- 
cused of  bidding  for  Democratic  votes  for  his  own 
retirement  as  General.  Logan  stands  to  his  old 
argument  and  refuses  to  take  any  step  backward. 
Your  Father  is  this  moment  riding  up  to  the  door, 
with  Mr.  Parsons,  who  supplies  horses  and  saddles 
and  escorts.     He  looks  well,  and  is  cheerful  and  gay. 


To  M.,  in  Paeis 

821  Fifteenth  St. 
Washington  Jany  25th  1882, 

Wednesday. 

Deah  M.,  —  I  had  the  pleasure  of  reading  your 
last  letter  —  the  first  in  your  new  famille  —  in  the 
court  room,  that  vile  room,  daily  resounding  to  the 
imprecations  of  Guiteau,  the  narrative  of  the  tak- 
ing off  of  poor  Garfield,  the  murmur  of  the  crowd  of 
attendants,  the  indecisive  Judge's  decisions.  I  had 
gone  thither  after  a  hasty  breakfast,  with  Mrs  Hill 

'  [  290  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

of  Colorado,  Alice  and  C.  A.  and  we  stayed  till  the 
adjournment  at  l-1/^*  but  I  shall  never  go  again. 
Before  this  letter  reaches  you,  everything  will  be  de- 
cided, and  I  am  much  afraid  to  the  interests  of  the 
wretch.  It  is  amazing  to  see  how  many  people  insist 
upon  his  lunacy,  which  is  only  another  term  for  ac- 
quittal; Mr.  Ingersoll,  for  instance,  who  for  some 
reason  never  speaks  of  Garfield,  the  Pendletons,  and 
scores  of  others.  For  myself,  I  have  but  one  wish, 
to  see  him  put  out  of  the  way.  I  want  it  impossible 
for  that  hoarse,  cracked  voice,  ever  to  raise  itself 
again.  As  a  pleasing  contrast  to  the  surroundings 
in  which  your  letter  was  read,  let  me  describe  these 
in  which  this  is  being  written.  My  own  room,  —  the 
big  old  table  from  the  billiard  room  in  the  center  — 
your  father  at  it  writing  the  Eulogy  —  and  as  fast 
as  he  completes  a  page,  reading  it  out  to  his  admiring 
audience  of  Alice,  C.  A.  and  me.  Jamie  too  can  find 
no  place  to  study  in  outside  of  my  chamber  door,  and 
he  is  here  at  this  moment  with  pen  and  ink  and  parch- 
ment paper  and  algebra,  shouting  at  the  top  of  his 
voice  for  information  as  to  his  co-efficients  and  expo- 
nents. H.,  dear  darling  H.,  has  just  started  oft 
through  the  snow  storm  to  spend  the  morning  with 
Rachel  Sherman  in  her  room,  to  which  she  is  now  con- 
fined. At  twelve  thirty  she  will  come  back  and  cheer- 
fully  take  up   her  French  conversation   with  Mme. 

[  291  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

Kline,  and  at  two,  when  lunch  is  ready,  I  shall  go  in 
and  say,  "  Bon  jour,  Madame,  come  out  and  take  a 
cup  du  the,"  and  with  this  mixture  of  French  and 
English,  and  with  the  combined  efforts  of  H  and  Alice 
and  C.  A ;  and  above  all  of  your  Father,  whose  quick 
ear  catches  everything  that  is  said,  we  scramble 
through  a  most  entertaining  meal,  during  which  I 
manage  to  convey  to  Madame  everything  which  I 
have  been  doing  during  the  day.  She  says  H  is  char- 
mante,  and  paries  with  a  correct  accent,  but  as  you 
say,  your  time  Frenchman  will  always  say  something 
pleasant  to  you.  I  was  out  all  day  yesterday  making 
calls  with  Mrs.  Hale,  who  had  really  taken  to  heart 
my  indifference  on  this  subject.  On  the  whole,  I  en- 
joyed it,  and  in  the  evening  C.  A.  and  I  were  at  Mrs. 
Hill's  1  at  a  musicale,  where  good  music  and  a  better 
supper  made  the  time  pass  very  nicely.  To-day  I  am 
going  out  again  with  a  carriage  full  of  cards  and 
addresses.  Now  let  me  go  back  and  take  up  a  few 
dropped  stitches.  Have  I  told  you  that  Oscar  Wilde 
has  been  here,  bringing  a  letter  to  your  father  from 
Archibald  Forbes  ?  2  We  would  not  invite  him  to  the 
house,  but  he  came  and  called  Saturday  evening,  and 
was  here   more   than   an   hour.      Very   interesting  I 

1  Wife  of  Nathaniel  Parker  Hill,  U.  S.  Senator  from  Colorado. 

2  Archibald  Forbes,  the  English  war  correspondent,  who  married 
a  daughter  of  General  Meigs  of  Washington. 

[  292  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

thought,  though  previously  I  had  not  been  able  to 
stay  in  the  room  with  him.  We  have  also  been  see- 
ing Henry  James,  who  dined  here. 

H.  S.  B. 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Jany  28th  1882,  Saturday  morning 
My  dear  M.,  —  I  do  not  know  with  what  particu- 
larity the  text  of  the  Chili-Peruvian  papers  *  may  be 
cabled  to  Europe,  but  as  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
talk  on  this  side  concerning  them,  I  hasten  to  say, 
Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be 
afraid.    Only  on  the  publication  of  these  state  papers, 

1  Mr.  Blaine's  "foreign  policy  had  two  principal  objects.  The 
first  was  to  secure  and  preserve  peace  throughout  this  continent.  The 
second  was  to  cultivate  close  commercial  relations  and  increase  our 
trade  with  the  various  countries  of  North  and  South  America.  The 
accomplishment  of  the  first  object  was  preliminary  and  essential  to 
the  attainment  of  the  second,  and,  in  order  to  promote  it,  he  projected 
a  peace  congress  to  be  held  at  Washington,  to  which  all  the  inde- 
pendent powers  of  North  and  South  America  were  to  be  im  ited.  His 
plan  contemplated  the  cultivation  of  such  a  friendly  understanding 
on  the  part  of  the  powers  as  w;.uld  permanently  avert  the  horrors  of 
war  either  through  the  influence  of  pacific  counsels  or  the  acceptance 
of  impartial  arbitration.  Incidentally,  it  assumed  that  the  assem- 
bling of  their  representatives  at  Washington  would  open  the  way  to 
such  relations  as  would  inure  to  the  commercial  advantage  of  this 
country.  The  project,  though  already  determined,  was  delayed  by 
the  fatal  shot  at  Garfield,  and  the  letter  of  invitation  was  finally 
i  ^ued  on  the  29th  of  November,  1881,  fixing  the  24th  of  November, 
1882,  as  the  date  for  the  proposed  congress     On  the  19th  of  December 

r.  Blaine  retired  from  the  cabinet,  and  within  three  weeks  his 
successor  had  reversed  his  policy  and  the  plan  was  abandoned,  after 
the  invitation  had  been  accepted  by  all  the  American  powers  except 
two." — Appleton's  Encyclopedia  of  American  Biography. 

[  293  ] 


\ 


LETTERS    OF 

yesterday  morning,  in  the  daily  newspapers,  did  your 
Father  know  that  his  instructions  had  been  altered 
and  revoked,  and  when  I  say  his  instructions,  you 
will  remember  they  are  officially  the  President's  act, 
he  alone  being  responsible  for  them,  and  it  is  he  who 
has  gone  back  on  himself,  for  you  (his  friends),  must 
either  admit,  that  he  does  not  know  to  what  he  signs 
his  name,  or  that  he  is  vacillating  and  doubtful  to 
the  last  degree.  In  point  of  fact,  the  papers  were 
all  read  to  him,  and  he  approved  them,  understand- 
ing distinctly  that  they  committed  his  government  to 
a  positive  policy.  I  suspect  that  Bancroft  Davis  has 
kept  from  Frelinghuysen  the  successive  steps  of  al- 
ternation and  recantation  and  that  the  President 
himself  is  not  intelligent  on  the  matter.  At  any  rate, 
he  seemed  completely  unprepared  for  the  charge  of 
fickleness  yesterday  morning.  You  remember,  don't 
you,  what  Orville  Baker  told  us  about  Arthur's  two 
passions,  as  he  heard  them  discussed  at  Sam  Ward's  * 
dinner  in  New  York?  New  coats  being  one,  he  hav- 
ing then  already  ordered  twenty-five  from  his  tailor 
since  the  new  year  came  in ;  the  other,  seeming  to  do 
things,  while  never  putting  his  mind  or  his  hands 
near  them.  Your  Father  saw  the  President  yesterday 
morning  and  had  a  courteous  interview  with  him. 
What  he,  the  Pater,  may  do  hereafter,  I  do  not  know, 

1  Samuel  Ward  of  New  York,  a  brother  of  Julia  Ward  Howe. 

[  294  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

but  at  present,  he  has  decided  on  the  patient  dignity 
of  perfect  silence.  But  he  says  he  never  wrote  pa- 
pers of  which  a  man  or  his  children  ought  to  be  more 
proud,  and  that  there  is  not  a  single  word  in  them  he 
would  have  changed.  Boynton  on  the  New  York 
Herald  is  particularly  outrageous  on  your  Father, 
and  as  Mr.  Nordhoff  x  employs  him  and  is  the  re- 
sponsible manager  of  the  Herald  in  Washington,  we 
are  going  to  cut  him.  Your  Father  is  well  and 
bright  and  busy,  but  feels  that  he  has  been  treated 
with  indignity  and  that  the  whole  thing  is  simply 
a  determination  to  break  him  down. 

With  oceans  of  love, 

H.  S.  B. 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Thursday  morning,  Feby  2nd,  1882. 
Dearest  M.,  —  I  am  in  the  very  throes  —  not  of 
dissolution,  but  of  visiting,  —  and  having  now  made 
out  a  list  twice  too  long  for  my  day  and  cards,  I 
snatch  the  moment  preceding  luncheon,  to  tell  you 
that  Jacky  was  very  wise,  when  he  foresaw  that  the 
Frelinghuysen  dynasty  might  not  settle  itself  into 
the  saddle,  without  an  impulse  to  ride  down  your 
Father.  Undoubtedly  the  State  Department  in- 
tended the  life  of  your  Father,  which  they  expected 

1  Charles  Nordhoff,  author  and  journalist,  at  that  time  Washington 
correspondent  of  the  New  York  Herald. 

[  295  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

to  take,  with  all  due  regard  for  the  convenances,  and 
with  so  much  dignity  on  their  own  part,  that  nobody 
would  know  that  anybody  was  hurt,  only  by  and  by, 
it  would  strike  people  that  our  dearest  dear  was  for- 
ever silent.  But  a  man  attacked  from  behind  is  not 
always  worsted.  He  faces  round,  and  is  not  deterred 
from  striking  back,  for  fear  of  hurting  the  clothes 
or  gentility  of  his  assailant.  So  with  your  Father  — 
what  difference  does  it  make  to  him  that  Freling- 
huysen  is  a  nice  man  who  does  a  dirty  thing?  He 
knows  the  act  and  the  man,  and  holds  the  latter  to 
account  for  the  former.  I  verily  believe  the  Secre- 
tary of  State  expected  to  silence  Blaine.  They  re- 
voked his  instructions,  though  they  were  Arthur's 
as  well;  they  kept  back  his  papers,  they  sent  to 
Congress  garbled  despatches  of  Trescott's,  they  per- 
mitted private  letters  of  Christiancy  to  be  sent  to 
Congress.  Nordhoff  employed  Boynton,  an  old  and 
bitter  enemy  of  your  Father,  to  send  the  telegrams  to 
the  Herald,  and  John  Russell  Young1  wrote  editorials 
accusing  the  ex-Secretary  of  dishonesty  and  dirty 
tricks,  and  Nordhoff  himself  has  telegraphed  attack 
upon  attack,  and  what  does  it  all  mount  to?  Your 
Father  will  be  vindicated  in  every  particular.  His 
policy  is  a  patriotic  one,  and  the  people  are  going  to 

1  Journalist,  war  correspondent,  and  librarian,  succeeding  A.  R. 
Spofford  as  librarian  of  Congress. 

[  296  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

so  recognize  it.  Not  a  selfish  thought  is  in  it,  but 
it  is  in  all  its  ramifications,  American.1  I  must  stop, 
but  first,  a  word  or  two  en  famille.  Your  Father  is 
going  this  afternoon  to  Baltimore  to  dine  with  Mr. 
Garrett.2  Last  night,  we  were  at  Mrs.  Bancroft's. 
The  President  came  up  and  asked  me  to  do  him  the 
honor  of  walking  through  the  rooms  with  him.  Of 
course  it  was  intentional.  I  complied,  and  we  made 
a  slow  progress,  I  in  my  new  dress,  which  is  the  hand- 
somest I  ever  had.  Never  talk  to  me  about  black 
velvet  again!  I  expect  to  see  it  in  the  newspapers, 
or  should,  only  there  was  no  member  of  the  fraternity 
there.  Not  a  word  of  news  from  Walker.  Poor  fel- 
low, shouldn't  you  think  he  would  feel  perplexed? 
Young  Mills3  is  to  be  married  to  Miss  Livingston  in 

a  month.     In  great  haste, 

H.  S.  B. 

Your  Father  sends  his  best  love.  This  attack  has 
stimulated  him,  and  he  is  as  well  as  he  ever  was  in  his 
life.  There  comes  a  fourth  of  March,  which,  to  use 
Fred's  term,  is  a  cold  day.     Look  at  poor  Hayes.     I 

1  See  note,  page  13,  Vol.  II. 

2  Robert  Garrett,  at  that  time  first  vice  president  of  the  Balti- 
more and  Ohio  R.  R.  It  was  at  a  business  interview  with  Mr.  Garrett 
that  William  H.  Vanderbilt  died  suddenly  from  apoplexy,  at  Mr. 
Vanderbilt's  house  in  New  York. 

3  Osden  MUls,  son  of  D.  O.  Mills  of  New  York  and  California, 
mam:d  Miss  Ruth  Livingston. 

[  297  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

heard  him  so  abused  at  Mrs.  Hill's  breakfast  yester- 
day, that  I  really  came  to  his  defense,  and  as  I  did  it, 
I  said  I  believed  I  was  the  only  person  at  the  table, 
who,  four  years  ago,  had  dared  to  have  the  courage 
of  my  convictions,  but  that  now  I  thought  his  offenses 
were  condoned.  No  one  had  hitherto  sat  in  judg- 
ment upon  him  or  Mrs.  Hayes,  and  now  they  deserved 
the  charity  of  the  grave.  All  our  friends  say  that 
your  Father's  position  is  all  that  could  be  desired. 


To  Walker  in  Chili 

821  Fifteenth  St.   Washington,  Feby  8th,  1882, 

Wednesday  A.  M. 

Dearest  Walker,  —  Sevellon  Brown  has  sent  over 
a  list  of  the  Foreign  Mail  departures,  so  that  I  now, 
every  time  that  I  raise  my  eyes,  am  reminded  that  the 
South  American  mail  leaves  New  York  Friday  the 
10th,  and  it  behooves  me  to  set  down,  in  order  or  dis- 
order, all  that  I  can  remember  of  what  has  been  going 
on  in  the  bosoms  and  home  of  your  devoted  family, 
since  last  I  wrote ;  and,  to  begin  at  the  end,  Emmons 
is  with  us,  or  rather  was  yesterday,  and  will  be  we 
hope  at  any  moment,  though  he  yesterday  afternoon 
went  over  to  Baltimore  to  look  up  Otho  and  spend 

the  night. 

[  298  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Emmons  says  he  is  going  to  Topeka,  Kansas,  and 
I  have  no  doubt  it  is  his  destiny  to  do  so,  as  so  often 
as  he  ends  his  negotiations,  kind  fate  re-opens  them, 
and  we  know  that  what  is  writ  is  writ.  He  is  a  dear 
delightful  son.  .  .  .  Business  tells  on  him,  and  he 
begins  to  look  careworn  and  more  man  than  boy.  Of 
course  he  lost  no  time  in  tasting  the  sweets  of  Wash- 
ington society.  Commencing  with  the  Pendletons,  to 
whose  reception  we  went  that  evening,  where  was 
everybody  almost  whom  one  wants  to  meet,  all  the 
old  stars  and  others,  like  the  Jays,  the  Rathbone 
girls,  Miss  Heard,1  and  a  score  of  others.  The 
Pendleton  House  is  a  funny  little  box  of  an  affair, 
where  I  have  a  feeling  that  only  a  portion  of  the 
company  is  on  exhibition  at  once,  and  that  after  the 
spectator  has  looked  long  enough  at  this  section,  the 
crank  will  be  turned,  and  as  many  more  come  into 
view.  I  am  willing  the  Pendletons  should  have  it  for 
an  abiding  habitation,  as  Jamie  would  say,  but  as  for 
me,  give  me  Massachusetts  Avenue  and  20th  street. 

And  yesterday  morning  Emmons  breakfasted  with 
E.,  first  going  to  the  P.  O.  Department  to  look  up 
his  case,  which  alas,  he  finds  decided  against  him, 
solely  on  the  responsibility  of  Solicitor  General  Phil- 
lips, Mr.   Howe  and  Mr.  Elmer  dissenting  totally. 

1  Daughter  of  Augustine  Heard,  at  one  time  one  of  the  great 
merchants  in  the  Chinese  trade. 

[  299  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

After  his  breakfast,  Baltimore,  and  to-night  he  dines 
with  Mrs.  Hale.  Whether  he  will  immediately  return 
to  Chicago  or  await  the  Eulogy,  he  has  not  yet  de- 
cided. This  important  funereal  day  is  fixed  for  the 
27th,  and  the  orator  to  be  is  really  devoting  his  morn- 
ing to  it.  I  can  hear  Jamie  this  minute  kissing  him 
good-bye,  as  he  makes  ready  to  climb  the  Hill  of 
Learning,  as  is  his  daily  wont,  for  his  tutor  lives 
beyond  the  Capitol. 

February  8th,  1882. 
You  would  be  delighted,  could  you  see  how  well  and 
bright  and  happy  your  Father  is,  dressed  immacu- 
lately in  one  of  his  new  Baltimore  suits,  carefully 
trimmed  quoad  hair  and  beard,  and  in  the  full  exercise 
of  a  mental  faculty  which  makes  the  administration 
cry  for  the  little  dog  at  home  to  know  whether  they 
be  they.  It  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  post  you 
as  to  the  situation,  which  is  so  interesting,  that  I  am 
half  the  time  breathless  with  excitement.  Still  I  con- 
gratulate you  that  you  are  not  here.  Your  position 
would  be  embarrassing,  and  if  the  State  Department 
did  not  drop  you,  you  would  feel  obliged  to  drop  it. 
There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  a  strong  feeling 
is  growing  for  your  Father's  policy.  It  appeals  to 
the  American  sentiment,  and  the  friends  of  the  Admin- 
istration have  done  the  President  incalculable  harm 

[  300  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

by  rushing  to  his  defense  with  all  sorts  of  wild 
assertions ;  such  as  that  he  did  not  know  of  the  Peace 
Conference,  that  Mr.  Trescott  had  private  instruc- 
tions from  the  Secretary,  etc.,  which,  proved  to  be 
true,  would  condemn  Arthur  out  and  out. 

I  must  not  forget  to  chronicle  an  adroit  little  trick 
of  Mrs.  Bancroft's.  We  were  all  at  a  lovely  little 
party  at  her  house  last  Wednesday  evening,  and  it 
was  not  till  Saturday  that  I  discovered  that  all  the 
other  invitations,  save  ours,  read  "  To  meet  Secre- 
tary and  Mrs.  Frelinghuysen."  Accordingly,  I  asked 
your  Father  if  he  would  go  to  the  Bancrofts  to  meet 
the  Frelinghuysens.  Most  decidedly  not,  he  said. 
So  I  looked  up  our  invitation  and  found,  to  my  great 
satisfaction,  there  was  no  mention  of  the  F's.  in  our 
notes.  Now  it  turns  out  that  all  the  other  invitations 
mentioned  the  F's.  So  Monday  afternoon,  when  I 
was  making  my  party  call  on  Mrs.  Bancroft,  I  asked 
her  about  it.  Why,  the  Frelinghuysen  name  was  so 
long,  that  after  writing  out  a  good  many  invitations, 
she  concluded  to  drop  it,  and  our  cards  came  among 
the  abbreviated  ones.  I  assured  her  that  the  ex- 
planation was  entirely  satisfactory  to  me,  but  I  asked 
as  a  special  favor  that  she  make  the  same  explanation 
to  Mrs.  Frelinghuysen,  at  the  same  time  telling  her 
that  our  cards  did  not  contain  their  honored  name. 
This    she    solemnly    promised   to    perform,   but    she 

[301  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

looked  at  me  scrutinizingly  as  she  promised,  no  doubt 
deciding  whether  it  would  be  safe  to  remember  to 
forget. 

To  M.,  in  France 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Monday  morning,  Feby  13th,  1882. 
Dearest  M.,  —  I  have  your  letter  of  the  29th 
ultimo,  and  as  I  received  it  this  morning,  I  know 
how  you  were  just  two  weeks  ago  yesterday,  and  I 
have  been  looking  in  my  diary  to  see  what  we  at  home 
were  doing  on  that  day,  and  find  that  your  Father 

was  giving  his  interview  to  the  Post,  that  H 

went  to  St  John's  and  was  extremely  affected  by  the 
sermon,  which  was  pertinent  to  the  installation  of 
deacons,  which  there  occurred,  and  that  in  the  evening 
the  Sperrys  of  New  Haven  —  do  you  not  remember 
being  invited  there  while  in  Farmington  ?  —  were 
here.  Also  that  your  Father,  to  show  that  he  was 
well  and  generally  as  good  as  of  old,  attended  Mrs 
Robeson's  Sunday  evening.  Since  I  wrote  you,  Em- 
mons has  come  and  gone,  and  we  miss  him  fearfully, 
as  he  fills  a  relation  to  his  parents  which  neither 
H,  J'aime  or  Alice  touch.  Saturday  evening  he 
dined  at  Lieut.  Emory's,  then  went  to  a  theatre  party 
with  E.,  then  home,  almost  at  the  same  moment  with 
your  Father,  C.  A.  and  I,  who  had  dined  at  the 

[  302  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

Outreys.  After  admiring  my  dress,  which  he  saw  for 
the  first  time,  he  packed,  while  Lewis  got  him  a  sup- 
per and  all  the  others  went  to  bed,  save  myself,  who 
sat  up  till  twelve,  when  I  sent  him  to  the  station, 
though  his  train  was  not  to  leave  till  two,  but  he  could 
go  to  bed  at  once,  and  this  morning  I  hope  he  is  all 
ready  for  business  at  his  office  in  Chicago.  He  lost 
one  day  at  home,  through  sick  headache,  including 
a  dinner  at  Mrs.  Hale's.  E  came  over  at  five  last 
night,  bringing  Mr.  Northcote,  the  second  son  of 
Sir  Stafford,1  with  her.  She  would  not  stay  for  sup- 
per, but  Mr.  Northcote  went  away,  put  on  his  even- 
ing dress,  returned,  and  with  Mr.  McBride,  the  Utah 
M.C.,  seemed  to  enjoy  supper  and  talk  immensely.  As 
he  had  had  no  dinner,  there  was  the  best  reason  in  the 
world  for  his  appetite,  and  another  and  not  a  bad 
one,  for  his  more  intellectual  avidity.  I  am  as  usual 
writing  in  my  room,  which  has  now,  as  I  have  often 
told  you,  been  converted  into  a  sanctum,  sacred  to 
Garfield,  and  here  your  Father,  who  cannot  bear  to  be 
alone,  though  he  prohibits  talking,  is  devoting  him- 
self to  the  most  difficult  portion  of  his  eulogy,  the 
long  sickness  with  its  fatal  termination.  For  the 
second  time  this  morning,  I  see  him  taking  from  the 

1  Sir  Stafford  Northcote,  latter  Lord  Iddesleiph,  the  English 
statesman,  a  member  of  the  Alabama  Commission.  Lord  Iddesleigh 
was  executor  of  Gladstone's  will. 

[  303  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

drawer  a  fresh  pocket  handkerchief,  with  which  he 
vainly  tries  to  hide  his  tears,  and  this  time,  wholly 
overcome,  he  has  beaten  a  retreat  to  the  blue  room. 
Oh,  M.,  there  indeed  is  a  Douglas,  tender  and  true! 
But  if  the  writing  so  moves  him,  how  with  a  great 
audience  before  him,  is  he  ever  to  control  his  emotion? 
Two  weeks  from  this  very  hour,  unless  the  unfore- 
seen prevents,  he  will  be  in  the  very  thick  of  it. 
Emmons  comes  back  to  hear  him.  It  will  not  be 
eloquent,  but  it  will  be  faithful. 

Alice  is  soon  to  start  for  Leavenworth.  Mrs  Dunn1 
is  here  in  the  city.  Friday  she  dined  with  us.  It 
seems  very  soon  for  the  Scotts  to  be  returning,  but 
how  much  better  to  make  even  that  short  trip  than 
none!  There  is  nothing  I  so  much  regret,  as  that 
I  have  not  been  abroad.  It  is  too  late  now  for  the 
foreign  tour  to  seem  attractive  to  me.  Glasses,  em- 
bonpoint, and  a  certain  tendency  to  uncertainty  re- 
garding all  earthly  affairs,  make  me  reluctant  to 
take  risks,  but  if  we  cannot  come  abroad  this  year, 
you  must  remember  that  you  can  come  home,  to  re- 
turn in  the  fall.  As  you  are  a  good  sailor,  money  will 
be  the  only  preventing  consideration,  and  we  are 
not  yet  quite  poor. 

Poor  Father,  I  wish  he  would  come  down  stairs! 

1  Wife  of  Major  William  McKee  Dunn,  U.  S.  A.,  and  daughter  of 
Senator  Morrill. 

[  304   ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

The  political  situation  remains  about  the  same. 
I  saw  the  President  last  at  Mrs.  Bancroft's  party. 
The  Frelinghuysens  are  exteriorly  all  that  could  be 
desired,  but  I  think  this  administration  is  doomed. 
I  do  not  believe  that  anything  will  seize  it  but  perdi- 
tion, and  I  do  not  love  it. 

I  have  been  looking  over  the  album  to  find  an  auto- 
graph of  Garfield,  in  vain,  but  in  my  next  letter  I  hope 
to  send  you  one.  I  think  Gambetta  1  is  the  man  of 
France.  We  have  two  portraits  of  him  hanging  on 
the  wall,  and  I  presume  he  is  the  one  Frenchman  of 
all  others  who  has  a  foreign  reputation. 

Whitelaw  Reid  is  with  your  Father  in  his  foreign 
policy,  but  the  papers  were  all  given  to  the  press 
without  warning,  and  he  says  he  was  caught  unin- 
formed on  the  subject.  Not  one  word  from  Walker. 
Good-bye,  my  dearest.  I  am  now  going  to  lunch 
and  then  to  call  on  Mrs.  Dunn  with  Mrs.  Van  Vliet  2 
in  the  rain.    With  a  bridge  of  love  to  span  the  ocean 

between  us,  always  yours, 

H.  S.  B. 

1  Leon  Gambetta  was  a  member  of  the  French  Chamber  of 
Deputies  in  1869  and  in  the  following  year  Minister  of  the  Interior  in 
the  government  of  National  Defense,  dictator,  deputy  again  and 
premier,  1881-82.  He  escaped  from  Paris  during  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War  in  a  balloon  and  organized  the  armies  of  the  Loire  and 
of  the  North. 

2  Wife  of  General  Van  Vliet,  Mr.  Blaine's  next-door  neighbor  in 
Washington,  occupying  the  former  home  of  Governor  Buckingham. 

vol.  i—20  [  305  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington,  Feby  18th  1882, 

Saturday  morning. 

Dearest  M.,  —  Alice  is  going  away  tonight  and 
the  eulogy  is  finished  in  all  its  parts,  and  only 
needs  now  the  work  of  the  skillful  joiner,  and  I  went 
to  a  picture  auction  this  week,  where  I  have  foolishly 
or  wisely  spent  many  dollars,  so  that  with  the  excep- 
tion of  notes,  I  have  not  this  week  had  pen  in  hand. 
And  even  now,  I  am  writing  at  one  side  of  the  table, 
vis-a-vis  with  your  Father,  and  C.  A.,  the  former 
transcribing  to  the  latter's  reading,  "  the  religious 
element  of  Garfield  was  strongly  marked,"  etc.  etc. 
The  eulogy  is  going  to  be  good.  Carefully  discrim- 
inating, it  is  an  authoritative  utterance  on  the  ability 
and  work  of  Garfield,  which,  while  it  carefully  ig- 
nores the  author,  shrinks  from  no  issue  which  the 
administration  of  Garfield  involved. 

We  have  heard  from  Walker  at  Santiago  de  Chile, 
but  his  letter,  which  is  a  Journal,  is  painfully  deficient 
in  "  personal  mention,"  and  I  agree  with  E.  who 
read  it,  that  she  would  rather  know  whether  he  had 
garlic  for  supper  than  all  these  pages  can  tell  of 
Presidents  and  Ministers  of  whom  we  know  nothing. 
And  speaking  of  foreign  potentates  reminds  me  that 
you  are  not  to  give  yourself  the  slightest  anxiety 
concerning  your  Father's  condition,  past  or  present. 
Whoever  has  explanations  or  backdowns  to  make,  it  is 

[  306  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

certainly  not  he.  Serene  in  the  consciousness  of  a 
policy  or  policies  which  looked  out  for  the  interests 
of  America,  and  which  time  is  as  sure  to  justify  as 
it  is  to  come,  he  may  well  wait  undisturbed,  while  Mr 
Frelinghuysen  accounts  to  his  masters,  the  people, 
for  his  truckling  subserviency. 

I  have  had  a  long  visit  between  these  lines  from 
Miss  Snead,2  who  has  been  here  to  get  a  suggestion 
from  me  as  to  the  observance  of  the  Eulogy  Day.  I 
can  imagine  your  amusement  at  the  large  place  the 
Eulogy  occupies  in  my  letters  nowadays.  When 
Jamie  was  snubbed  by  his  Father  the  other  day,  he 
exclaimed,  "  Crushed  by  a  Eulogist."  To  revert  to 
my  moutons,  Miss  Snead,  she  is  to  suggest  that  all 
ladies  in  the  House  on  the  day  shall  dress  in  black. 
I  must  not  forget  to  tell  you  one  bit  of  domestic  news. 
Maggie  Nurse  is  going  to  be  married  after  Lent. 
She  is  really  very  much  pleased,  naively  says  she 
never  dreamed  she  could  get  him.  I  am  very  much 
attached  to  her. 

All  the  time  I  am  writing,  imagine  the  careful 
criticism  of  language  going  on,  "  The  true  preroga- 
tives of  his  high  office,"  reads  your  Father.  "  Is  that 
any  better?  "  says  C.  A.  "  than  the  true  preroga- 
tives of  the  Presidency  ?  "     I  j  oin  in  the  ensuing  de- 

1  See  note,  page  13,  Vol.  II. 

2  Reporter  for  the  Evening  Star  and  National  Republican,  Wash- 
ington. _  „_  ., 

b  [  307  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

bate,  and  by  and  by,  we  lay  over  that  line  for  to- 
morrow's fresh  reading,  and  by  and  by  I  begin  to 
listen   again.      "  He   followed   with   quickening   step 
the  researches  of  Darwin,  Huxley,"  — 
Your  own,  — 

Mother. 

821  Fifteenth  St.    Washington  Feby  21st  1882. 

Dearest  M.,  —  I  have  this  morning  your  letter 
of  February  5th,  and  with  it  for  a  text,  I  think  I 
can  manage  to  fill  this  small  sheet,  though  it  was 
only  day  before  yesterday  that  I  mailed  you  a  letter, 
and  all  of  my  letters,  it  seems  to  myself,  go  through 
certain  formulas. 

I  always  mention  the  Eulogy,  always  speak  of 
E.  and  the  C.'s,  name  your  Father  and  the  children 
and  C.  A.  and  modestly  allude  to  myself.  Following 
the  usual  guides  this  morning,  I  have  to  say  that 
your  father  is  down  stairs  with  Mr.  Elkins,  and  Tom 
and  C  A  are  also  there,  waiting  for  this  room,  which 
Fagie  is  now  vindictively  dusting,  with  that  thing 
abhorred  of  Aunt  Hannah,  a  long-handled  feather- 
duster.  Whatever  becomes  of  it  eventually,  she  cer- 
tainly dislodges  a  vast  quantity,  and  while  she  raids, 
I  know  that  her  mind  is  far  away  from  this  home  and 
family,  and  that  she  is  mentally  deciding  on  the  color 
of  her  wedding  dress.    I  know  it,  because  she  has  just 

[  308  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

brought  me  two  samples  of  silk,  one,  claret  colored 
at  a  dollar  a  yard,  —  the  other  black,  fifty  percent 
higher.  Neither  of  them  will  of  course  pay  for  mak- 
ing up.  I  would  give  her  her  wedding-dress  myself, 
did  I  not  think  I  had  better  perhaps  look  out  for 
something  less  perishable.  Last  night,  your  Father 
and  I  were  at  the  English  Legation,  at  a  ball.  For 
a  wonder,  I  enjoyed  it  thoroughly.  Plenty  of  room 
to  sit,  delightful  music,  pretty  dances  and  dancers, 
a  supper,  and  attentive  friends.  Mr.  West  took  out 
Mrs.  Bancroft  Davis,  and  Count  Lewenhaupt 1  fol- 
lowed with  me.  The  President  and  the  Freling- 
huysens  had  gone  to  Baltimore  to  see  "  Patience." 
If  you  remember  the  description  of  Arthur,  as  given 
by  Mr.  Hurlburt  of  the  World,  at  Sam  Ward's  din- 
ner, when  Orville  Baker  was  present,  you  have  a  very 
correct  idea  of  him.  I  do  not  think  he  knows  any- 
thing. He  can  quote  a  verse  of  poetry  or  a  page 
from  Dickens  and  Thackeray,  but  these  are  only 
leaves  springing  from  a  root  out  of  dry  ground.  His 
vital  forces  are  not  fed,  and  very  soon  he  has  given 
out  his  all.  I  hardly  know  whether  we  are  on  terms 
with  him.  The  last  time  I  saw  him  was  at  Mrs.  Ban- 
croft's party,  and  I  am  not  likely  now  that  Lent  is 
upon  us,  to  see  him  again.     The  last  time  he  was 

1  Count  Carl  Lewenhaupt,  Minister  from  Sweden  and  Norway  to 
the  United  States. 

[   309  ] 


LETTERS    OF 

here,  he  spoke  to  me  of  his  chagrin  that  we  had  not 
been  invited  to  the  White  House,  but  time  wears  on, 
and  the  invitation  lingers,  and  I  do  not  think  a 
perfectly  well  bred  President  would  make  such  an 
apology.  He  certainly  commands  his  own  house  and 
table.  I  hear  in  society  only  approving  words. 
Can  a  President  be  otherwise  than  fascinating,  pleas- 
ant, intelligent  and  delight  fully  welcome? 


To  Walkee,  in  South  America 

821  Fifteenth  St.    Ash  Wednesday,  Washington's  Birthday, 

February  22nd,  1882,  4  p.  M. 

Dearest  Walkee,  —  It  is  too  bad  you  are  so  far 
away  that  I  cannot  sit  down  and  write  you  a  careless 
note,  as  I  do  to  M.  in  Paris,  to  Emmons  in  Chicago 
and  to  Alice  in  Ft  Leavenworth.  Here  I  am,  only 
just  through  lunch,  at  which  hour  Mrs.  Kinsley, 
Miss  Markoe,  and  Mr.  Elkins  all  happened  in. 
Mrs.  Kinsley  stayed  over  from  a  call,  Miss  Markoe 
came  to  bring  me  a  package  of  cards  left  at  the 
State  Department,  and  Mr.  Elkins  is  already  here, 
to  make  sure  of  the  Eulogy.  This  important  docu- 
ment is  now  in  the  hands  of  Tom,  who  is  transcribing 
it  in  the  blackest  of  ink  and  the  largest  of  hands,  on 
deeply  black  edged  paper,  so  that  the  beloved  orator 
need  wear  no  glasses  and  may  have  perfect  freedom 

[  310  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

of  feature  and  of  expression.  Nothing  can  equal  the 
interest  taken  in  the  day,  the  pressure  for  seats  and 
tickets  is  enormous.  I  am  quite  sure  you  will  be 
satisfied. 

Last  night,  we  all  went  to  the  Art  Club's  recep- 
tion to  Mr.  Corcoran.1  Your  Father  gave  the  wel- 
coming address,  which  was  a  perfect  gem,  and  given 
in  a  manner  which  made  moist  eyes.  I  felt  it  deeply 
myself,  but  when  Mrs  Story  said  to  me  that  she  felt 
like  crying  whenever  she  thought  of  it,  I  knew  he  had 
played  on  the  harp  of  a  thousand  strings.  It  was  a 
complete  surprise  to  me,  who  had  not  even  heard  one 
word  of  it.  Mr  Corcoran  took  me  out  to  supper, 
and  in  every  way  in  his  power,  testified  to  his  delight. 
And,  Walker,  you  would  have  felt  proud  and  tender, 
could  you  have  seen  the  dear  Pater,  giving  in  a  voice, 
which  was  a  caress  and  a  benediction  in  itself,  the 
little  address  I  enclose  —  then  seen  him  step  one  side, 
and  with  a  simple  dignity  defer  to  Mr.  Corcoran. 
Nothing  better  was  ever  done  or  said. 

Thursday  morning. 
Am  just  getting  off  invitations  for  a  dinner  on 
Tuesday.   Mrs  Foster,2  Mrs.  Wadsworth,3  the  Lewen- 

1  W.  W.  Corcoran,  Washington  banker,  philanthropist,  and 
founder  of  the  Corcoran  art  gallery. 

3  Wife  of  John  W.  Foster,  who  succeeded  Mr.  Blaine  as  Secretary 
of  State  under  President  Harrison. 

3  Mrs.  Craig  W:ads\vorth. 

[311] 


( 


LETTERS    OF 

haupts,  the  Jays,  Kasson,1  Bliss,  Schlesingers,  Schuy- 
lers,2  Patterson  3  (Mr.  Medill's  son-in-law).  Emmons 
we  hope  will  take  your  place,  though  these  terrible 
wash-outs,  involving  so  much  extra  labor  for  all  R.R. 
employees,  may  prevent. 

I  am  afraid,  dear  Walker,  that  if  you  have  depended 
on  me  as  to  the  situation,  personal  and  more  general, 
you  have  leaned  on  a  broken  reed.  This  morning  I 
notice  among  the  telegrams  in  the  Boston  Traveler 
of  yesterday,  that  you  have  resigned,  because  of  the 
strictures  upon  your  Father,  in  his  South  American 
course.  I  do  not  suppose  you  have  done  so,  though 
your  Father  for  the  first  time  seems  aware  of  the 
importance  of  keeping  you  posted  as  to  public  senti- 
ment here.  I  am  constantly  writing  family  letters, 
which,  I  suppose,  have  the  happy  faculty  of  touching 
on  things  of  the  least  importance.  I  am  truly  dis- 
gusted with  myself  as  a  universal  correspondent 
anyway,  and  I  feel  as  though  my  children  must  long 
for  the  sight  of  another  handwriting,  but  to  repair 
past  neglect,  I  send  you  a  budget  cut  indiscrimi- 
nately from  the  newspapers  this  morning.     Do  not 

1  John  A.  Kasson  of  Iowa,  formerly  Minister  to  Austria;  Col. 
William  Jay  and  Mrs.  Jay  of  New  York. 

2  Eugene  Schuyler,  the  author  and  diplomat,  who  later  died  while 
Consul-General  at  Cairo. 

s  Robert  W.  Patterson  married  a  daughter  of  Joseph  Medill  of 
Chicago. 

[  312  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

for  one  moment  imagine  that  your  Father  is  going 
down  under  this  preconcerted  attack  on  the  part  of 
the  State  Department  and  its  friends.  I  imagine  him 
very  strong,  and  that  the  administration  has  lost  its 
grip  upon  this  policy,  which  is  so  American  that  it 
is  bound  to  be  the  popular  will.  In  short,  dear 
Walker,  use  your  own  good  sense,  and  ask  yourself 
if  it  accords  with  your  Father's  past,  that  an  attack 
does  him  anything  but  good.     Good-bye, 

H.  S.  B. 

To  M.,  in  France 

821  Fifteenth  St.  Washington,  Feby.  24th,  1882. 
Dearest  M.,  —  No  better  proof  of  the  imminence 
of  the  27th  could  be  given,  than  the  immense  pile  of 
books,  now  encumbering  the  chairs  and  slab  of  the 
entry,  while  waiting  transportation  to  the  State  Li- 
brary. In  fact,  your  Father  is  at  this  moment  for 
the  eleventh  time,  going  over  the  manuscript,  smooth- 
ing out  all  inequalities  of  language,  for  he  persisted 
in  the  first  place  in  writing  in  the  most  careless  man- 
ner, insisting  always,  when  I  remonstrated  on  the 
awful  after  labor  that  he  was  laying  up  for  himself, 
"  Let  me  get  down  the  ideas,  and  the  language  will 
come  of  itself."  But  alas,  he  often  finds  it  frozen 
truth,  only  to  be  warmed  into  motion  by  infinite  nurs- 
ing and  pains.  I  have  had  a  letter  from  you  this  morn- 

[313  ] 


\ 


1 


LETTERS    OF 

ing,  which  like  all  its  predecessors  has  had  a  warm  wel- 
come. I  read  it  to  your  Father  in  bed.  If  I  did  not 
remember  how  Emmons  mourned  at  Geneva  and  Wal- 
ker at  Madame  Hedler's,  I  should  be  quite  miserable 
about  you.  But  you  are  not  yet  up  to  their  concert 
pitch. 

This  letter  is  interjected  between  the  lines  of  all 
sorts  of  things.  Notes  to  people  asking  for  tickets 
Monday  are  in  order  always.  We  have  about  thirty 
tickets  and  hundreds  of  applications.  E.,  the  Law- 
rences, Col.  Bliss  and  Miss  Markoe  go  with  me.  No 
tickets  are  necessary  for  our  high  mightinesses. 
Jamie  goes  in  with  the  Pater,  also  Emmons,  also 
Tom,  also  Mr.  Chandler.  I  think  of  your  wardrobe. 
Why  do  you  not  get  a  seamstress  to  put  you  in  order? 
We  have  a  tea-party  Sunday,  a  lunch  Monday,  a 
dinner  party  Tuesday.  This  is  only  to  sing  BAH 
to  you,  so  good-by  — 

II.  S.  B. 


To  Alice,  at  Fort  Leavenworth 

821  Fifteenth  St.    Washington,  March  1st, 

Wednesday  Morning. 

Dear  Alice,  —  Now  that  the  Eulogy  is  over  and 
all  the  books  sent  back  to  their  several  libraries,  and 
all  the  black  edged  paper  banished,  and  this  formerly 

[314] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

heavily  freighted  table,  cleared  up,  you  cannot  think 
how  bare  and  empty  the  room  seems.  All  the  world 
may  come  into  it  now  and  find  nothing  out  of  order, 
and  I  miss  the  dear  figure,  that  for  so  many  weeks 
has  made  it  his  studio.  He  is  down  stairs,  however, 
for  he  cannot  make  up  his  mind  to  separate  himself 
from  his  family,  and  I  have  this  moment  left  him 
after  a  whole  morning's  talk  with  Mr.  Elkins  and 
Emmons,  on  railroads  and  coal.  Mr.  E.  has  now 
gone  into  Mr.  Chandler's  to  ask  him  about  the  Cabi- 
net appointment  which  the  President  is  very  possibly 
about  to  offer  him.  He  will  come  back  here  for  lunch 
if  he  sees  Mr  C.  and  gets  through  his  call. 

Well,  Alice,  the  Eulogy  has  been  made,  and  when 
I  say  that  I  could  ask  nothing  more  of  it,  both  as  to 
audience,  subject  matter,  time  and  place,  delivery  and 
reception,  you  will  see  that  it  equalled  the  unequalled 
occasion,  for  probably  your  Father  had  not  in  that 
vast  assembly  a  more  exacting  critic  than  myself. 
He  has  had  the  most  delightful  and  warm  assurances 
from  his  friends  both  by  letters  and  word  of  mouth. 
The  former,  I  shall  keep  for  a  special  scrap  book, 
and  the  latter  I  shall  cherish  in  my  heart  of  hearts. 
Yes,  Alice,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  it  is  a 
success,  and  nothing  succeeds  like  success.  I  had 
eight  tickets  to  the  Executive  Gallery,  E.  had  yours, 
C.  A.  another,  Mrs.  Lawrence  and  Fanny  Chapman 

[315] 


LETTERS    OF 

other  two,  Mrs.  Emory  and  Col.  Bliss  and  Miss 
Markoe  the  others.  We  all  left  this  house  about  ten, 
I  in  Mrs  B 's  carriage,  and  we  all  got  fairly  com- 
fortable seats  in  the  gallery.  Mr  Bradbury  repre- 
sented Augusta,  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  going  in 
with  some  Senator.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
about  the  seats,  as  only  three  galleries  were  reserved. 
The  door  keeper  came  down  to  turn  me  out  of  my 
seat,  saying  it  was  to  be  reserved  for  the  Secretary 
of  State's  family,  but  when  he  saw  who  it  was,  he  beat 
a  retreat,  and  I  and  my  friends  had  most  of  the  seat, 
Mrs.  Justice  Matthews  having  one  end  and  Mrs. 
Brewster  the  other.  I  believe  there  was  a  great  deal 
of  fuss  and  fume  among  the  ushers  in  the  gallery 
later,  but  I  never  turned  my  head,  though  E.  with 
her  big  glasses,  did  not  fail  to  note  and  comment 
upon  all  that  was  going  on.  From  the  first  word,  I 
knew  that  your  Father  had  the  ear  of  the  audience. 
The  attention  was  profound,  and  the  interest  un- 
tiring. 


To  M.,  in  Paris 

Wednesday  afternoon. 
Dear  M.,  —  I  have  written  and  addressed  and  re- 
voked the  letter  to  Alice,  which  I  now  send  to  you. 
I  am  afraid  to  put  off  your  letter,  and  I  find  I  have 
.     no  time  left.     It  is  not  exactly  written  in  the  order 

[  316  ] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

in  which  I  was  intending  to  unload  my  mind  for  your 
benefit,  but  the  load  is  exactly  the  same.  The  Eulogy 
was  fine  and  tender,  and  concise  and  interesting  to 
the  last  degree,  was  listened  to  with  untiring  interest, 
and  has  been  followed  by  an  almost  unbroken  stream 
of  congratulations.  Probably  you  will  miss  nothing 
to  compare  with  it  while  away  from  us,  and  I  am 
truly  sorry  that  only  Jamie  and  Emmons,  of  all  the 
children,  heard  it.  The  former,  who  might,  had  he 
listened,  have  known  the  whole  history  of  the  Eulogy 
from  table  talk  for  the  last  six  weeks,  woke  up  to  it, 
only  on  the  morning  of  the  26th,  and  then  only  to 
tease  with  persistence  for  tickets  for  two  of  his 
friends.  But  once  your  Father  had  begun,  he  lost 
not  a  word,  and  Mr.  Elkins  who  was  near  him,  says 
he  cried  without  reserve  or  restraint.  I  send  you 
copy  of  the  resolutions  1  passed  in  the  Senate  to-day. 
Perry  Belmont 2  has  offered  a  similar  Resolution  in  the 
House.  "  France  "  means  Mr.  Morton,  who  is  said  to 
have  been  interested  in  the  sale  of  nitrates  and  guano. 

H.  S.  B. 

1  Resolutions  calling  for  an  investigation  of  our  government's 
course  in  the  matter  of  the  recent  war  between  Chile  and  Peru.  The 
question  of  adjudicating  specified  American  claims  to  guano  fields 
which  Chile  claimed  by  right  of  conquest  was  involved,  and  an  at- 
tempt was  made  by  Democratic  members  in  Congress  to  show  that 
the  Secretary  of  State's  course  was  not  disinterested. 

2  Perry  Belmont,  Representative  from  New  York  and  a  member 
of  the  Foreign  Affairs  Committee. 

r  317] 


LETTERS    OF 

March  2nd  1882,  Thursday  morning. 

My  deae  M.,  —  If  I  have  neglected  you  of  late, 
let  the  times  past  suffice.  I  am  now  really  begin- 
ning daily  correspondence,  as  this  letter  if  compared 
with  my  last  in  date  and  matter,  proves.  I  am 
through  with  breakfast,  through  with  my  hair 
dressing,  which  I  am  in  grave  doubts  about,  as  Lizzie 
has  a  constant  tendency  to  elevate  my  frontispiece,  a 
la  Drum,  and  at  twelve  Emmons  is  to  breakfast  with 
the  divine  E.  and  Edith  Fish,  divinely  tall  and  most 
divinely  fair,  —  and  at  one,  C.  A.  and  I  en j  oy  a 
de  j  euner  with  my  lofty  examplar  in  chignons  —  leav- 
ing your  Father  and  Tom  Sherman  to  each  other, 
for  Jamie  is  always  with  his  tutor  at  one.  Our  matu- 
tinal reunion  was  made  delightful  by  a  great  number 
of  congratulatory  letters,  a  very  feeling  one  from 
Uncle  Homan,1  to  whom  your  Father  had  consider- 
ately sent  an  advance  copy  of  his  Eulogy,  which  he 
read,  he  said,  to  the  neighbors  and  friends,  at  the 
same  hour  that  it  was  delivered  to  the  larger  and  more 
distinguished,  but  not  more  sympathetic  and  appre- 
ciative and  affectionate,  audience.  One  from  Mrs. 
Garfield  which  I  shall  hereafter  send  you,  a  truly 

1  Joseph  A.  Homan  of  Augusta,  Maine,  formerly  editor  of  the 
Maine  Farmer  ;  for  more  than  thirty  years  Mr.  Blaine's  next-door 
neighbor  and  close  friend. 

[318] 


MRS.    JAMES    G.    BLAINE 

beautiful  letter,  pathetic  in  its  perfect  simplicity,  not 
one  trace  of  affectation  to  be  discovered  in  it. 

The  house  was  full  of  visitors  all  yesterday  after- 
noon, everybody  calling  now  to  compliment  the 
Eulogy,  and  Col.  Rockwell  has  just  gone  away  with 
a  package  of  photographs  of  Mrs  Garfield,  which 
he  had  brought  me  to  look  at.  Very  pretty  —  and 
taken  with  the  idea  of  affording  an  opportunity  for 
a  good  portrait  hereafter.  I  do  not  know  anything 
further  about  the  visit  of  your  Father  to  England 
in  May.  His  business  is  very  uncertain,  and  it  all 
depends  on  that.  But  I  hold  to  your  coming  home, 
in  the  event  of  none  of  the  family  visiting  Europe. 
Mr.  Phelps  is  in  Egypt,  as  I  suppose  you  know. 
With  love  and  prudent  advice, 

H.  S.  B. 


END    OF    VOLUME    I 


DATE    DUE 

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